This entry in the Hooblers' American Family Album series (The Jewish American Family Album, 1995, etc.) begins with an introduction by Oscar Hijuelos, who notes, ``where there are Cubans, there will be much warmth, life and amazing energy.'' A collection of oral histories and memoirs grouped by topic offer firsthand accounts of ``The Old Country,'' ``Coming to the United States,'' ``Ports of Entry,'' ``A New Life,'' ``Putting Down Roots,'' and ``Part of the United States.'' Readers will learn about the quincea§era, the celebration of a young woman's 15th birthday, how immigration to the US broke down the extended Cuban family, once the strongest force in that society, and how Desi Arnaz became the first famous Cuban American. The black-and-white photographs in the album reflect the various moods of these memoirs and manifest the Cuban-American story. Insets on celebrities such as Andy Garcia and Gloria Estefan add interest, as does a recipe for black beans, the staple of Cuban cooking. The grouping of memoirs around general topics leads to some natural disjointedness, but overall this is a good summation of the successful assimilation of Cubans into—and their contributions to- -American culture. (chronology, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-19-508132-3
Page Count: 127
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Patent (Children Save the Rain Forest, p. 903, etc.) stresses the importance of protecting the planet's rich gene pool for the survival of all species, and makes clear that seemingly insignificant species may provide medicines and products of great usefulness. With plants and animals in tropical Costa Rica and the more temperate US as models, Patent demonstrates how life forms evolve, adapt, and become extinct. She describes the natural forces of evolution and the threat posed by people. Readers learn of the private and public efforts to catalog and conserve plants and animals, e.g., Costa Rica's National Institute of Biodiversity, a government program that trains local people to collect and categorize specimens. Although Patent mentions the government agreements with drug companies that encourage exploration in exchange for a percentage of the profit when useful substances are identified, there is no discussion of the ethical considerations. The many handsome, full-color photographs are not always well placed and sometimes are only marginally related to the text. Still, this is an attractive and personal discussion of an important issue. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1996
ISBN: 0-395-68704-7
Page Count: 109
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1996
The most astounding information in this entry in the Collective Biographies series is not that there have been a total of 3,420 medals awarded as the ``nation's highest military honor'' for bravery (11 of whom are covered in this volume), but that only one woman, Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, received one, in 1865. In 1916, an Army review panel struck her name from the roll of Medal recipients because she was not ``a sworn member of the military.'' Only in 1977 did the Army Board of Correction of Military Records determine ``that if Walker had not been a woman she would have been commissioned as an army officer in 1861'' and recommended that her medal be restored. Doherty recounts the bravery and patriotism of ten other recipients, from Jacob Parrott, a young Union Army soldier, to Gary Gordon and Randall Shughart, two members of the elite Delta Force who died in Somalia in 1993. The collection also includes William Carney, the first African-American recipient, and Hiroshi Miyamura, a Japanese-American hero of the Korean War. Despite the author's wish to honor those who fought bravely, some readers will wonder what makes a person risk all for country, regardless of loved ones back home. (b&w photos, not seen, chapter notes, further reading, index) (Biography. 11-13)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-7660-1026-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Enslow
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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