An exciting, well-executed book that will captivate young readers.
Sept. 8, 1900, was a day no one in Galveston, Texas, would ever forget.
In a White part of town, 5-year-old Katherine Vedder wasn’t worried until her brother and cousin reported “that the Gulf looked like a great gray wall about fifty feet high.” Young African American newlywed Annie Smizer McCullough, who lived close to the beach, feared her beloved roses would be washed away in the storm. But no one was prepared for the devastation that would leave at least 8,000 people dead. In the States, it was originally thought the storm would head north after passing over Cuba; U.S. bias against Cuba prevented their warning that it was in fact heading west from being heard. Without modern technology, weather forecasters were dependent on tools such as barometers and rain gauges and their experience with previous storm patterns. This well-laid-out book tells a thrilling and terrifying story by combining science with social context. Quoting oral histories, journals, and letters, Hopkinson shares the vivid recollections of survivors. She also presents an inclusive portrait of the differences between African Americans’ and White people’s experiences of this natural disaster during a time of segregation. Photos of hurricanes and their aftermath add to the impact. The superlative backmatter includes a glossary, entertaining activities, oral history prompts, and additional resources for learning about hurricanes. Some information about other major hurricanes and the impact of climate change is included.
An exciting, well-executed book that will captivate young readers. (Nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-36017-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic Focus
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
Bial (A Handful of Dirt, p. 299, etc.) conjures up ghostly images of the Wild West with atmospheric photos of weathered clapboard and a tally of evocative names: Tombstone, Deadwood, Goldfield, Progress, Calamity Jane, Wild Bill Hickock, the OK Corral. Tracing the life cycle of the estimated 30,000 ghost towns (nearly 1300 in Utah alone), he captures some echo of their bustling, rough-and-tumble past with passages from contemporary observers like Mark Twain: “If a man wanted a fight on his hands without any annoying delay, all he had to do was appear in public in a white shirt or stove-pipe hat, and he would be accommodated.” Among shots of run-down mining works, dusty, deserted streets, and dark eaves silhouetted against evening skies, Bial intersperses 19th-century photos and prints for contrast, plus an occasional portrait of a grizzled modern resident. He suggests another sort of resident too: “At night that plaintive hoo-hoo may be an owl nesting in a nearby saguaro cactus—or the moaning of a restless ghost up in the graveyard.” Children seeking a sense of this partly mythic time and place in American history, or just a delicious shiver, will linger over his tribute. (bibliography) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-06557-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
Thousands of years ago, the Komodo dragon may have inspired dragon legends in China and beyond. In more recent times, researchers from all over the world have traveled to the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia to study the Komodo dragon. This lively if somewhat haphazardly organized account focuses on the efforts of contemporary researchers, presents some of their cooler findings (female dragons can reproduce through parthenogenesis; their saliva is laced with deadly bacteria) and profiles a few captive specimens. Mostly color photographs from a variety of sources adorn almost every page, and captions add to the information. Learning about the Komodo dragon is not for the faint of heart, and the photos show the wild beasts in all their gory glory. The extensive backmatter includes brief facts about Indonesia, more information on the Komodo dragon life cycle and its use of smell and conservation information. A portion of the sales will be donated to the Komodo Survival Program. (bibliography, further reading, glossary, websites, index, author’s note) (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59078-757-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
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