Following on the heels of No More! (2002) and Free at Last (2004) is the third in this striking trilogy documenting African-American history. Rappaport and Evans follow the pattern already established, presenting a conventional narration interwoven with present-tense accounts of individuals’ experiences, songs, and an occasional poem; the whole is stunningly illustrated with Evans’s monumental oils, which represent the incidents described in the text with almost iconic fervor. For all its strengths, however, this offering pales in comparison to the first two installments in the trilogy, perhaps because this era has been so relatively well-covered in other works for young people. The technique of “recreating” incidents from first-person accounts in particular has a tendency to fall flat—as these accounts are so readily available and powerful in their own right, one must question why so few activists are allowed to speak with their own voices. Rather than increasing the immediacy of the experience, as it did in the earlier volumes, it serves to distance the reader from people and events, which is a pity considering its beauty. (timeline, source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-1927-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2006
Leedy (Measuring Penny, 1998, etc.), so deft in making hard facts memorable and setting information into a context that makes sense to children, selects a hodge-podge of details and miscellany to convey a sense of what every state is about, as either a political entity or a place. Into lively, effulgent illustrations she plants a monotonous, forgettable list of items to distinguish every state: a map, the state flower and bird, a whiff of landscape, a glimpse of industry. There’s little about such a list—e.g., wheat, pronghorn, western meadowlark, prairie rose, Sitting Bull—to shout, in that example, “North Dakota” to children. The alphabetical listing—Alaska through Wyoming, four states a spread, with room for the US territories and Washington, D.C.—will help researchers, although it necessarily separates states that have natural geographic or historic connections, such as Vermont and New Hampshire, or West Virginia and Virginia, divided during the Civil War. Readers gain a good, first-line resource, with all the enthusiasm Leedy has made her trademark, but without much chance that they’ll adopt the excitement. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1431-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In his third book in the ``River Series,'' Lourie takes a 460- mile canoe trip from Whitehorse to Dawson, following the path of the Klondike gold prospectors of 1897. Text and photos of the contemporary journey are juxtaposed with those from the gold rush era to give a vivid picture of life, past and present, in the harsh environment near the Arctic Circle. As he did in Hudson River (1992), the author captures the spirit of a mighty river and its people. Powerful and beautifully presented. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 9, 1992
ISBN: 1-878093-90-8
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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