Calcines pulls no punches in this intense account of a youth spent in 1960s Cuba. Portraying himself and his large extended family as victims of brutal, faceless, inept Communists, struggling to cope with “oppression, hunger, fear, poverty, and violence,” he nonetheless recalls being surrounded by loving adults who weathered adversity with a combination of strong character and unshakeable faith. Even while bearing witness to ugly incidents in his barrio and being subjected to harsh treatment in school after his father’s courageous decision to apply for an exit visa to the United States, he doesn’t forget the kindness of equally impoverished neighbors, the small adventures of growing up or adolescent banter—“Not even Communism will protect her from my manly powers,” he grandly announces to his amigos after hooking up with an attractive classmate, “watch and learn.” The author ends with poignant farewells after the long-awaited permission to emigrate arrives at the end of 1969 and a quick epilogue covering the past 40 years. Even after all that time, his outrage at the economic and social destruction wrought by Castro’s Revolution remains undimmed. (Memoir. 12-15)
Pub Date: April 3, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-374-34394-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2009
A vivid yet even-handed account of the ill-fated Donner Party—the California-bound wagon train that was forced by impassable snow to camp for the winter of 1846—47 on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, resorting to cannibalism when there was literally nothing else to eat. Calabro neither shrinks from nor sensationalizes this aspect of the story. Instead she places it in a carefully constructed context beginning with the start of the journey in Springfield, Illinois, on April 15, and chronicling each unfortunate decision along the way that ultimately led to the company’s entrapment. Making good use of primary sources, especially the letters and memoirs of Virginia Reed, who turned 13 on the journey, the author tells of Virginia’s excitement at having her own pony to ride west. However, she doesn’t limit the story to Virginia’s perspective, but skillfully profiles many members of the party, including Virginia’s dynamic father, James, who strongly favored taking an unproven shortcut, and the intelligent and perceptive Tamsen Donner, who was firmly against it. The result is a combination of well-researched factual detail, a gripping narrative, strong characterizations, and a thoughtful analysis of the historical record. (b&w photos, chronology, further reading, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 19, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-86610-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
The first full-length biography of an escaped slave who became a leader in Boston’s African-American community, this brilliant combination of clear thinking, crisp writing, and carefully mapped research presents a picture of a man who was more doer than dreamer. Attributing Hayden’s low historical profile to the fact that he was neither a fiery orator nor an eloquent writer, Strangis reconstructs his life from a range of authoritative sources, giving him belated due as a militant abolitionist, a tireless conductor on the Underground Railroad who was instrumental both in making Boston too hot for slave catchers in the 1850s, and in the creation of Massachusetts’s renowned black military units during the Civil War. Hayden’s association with many leading abolitionists, from William Lloyd Garrison to John Brown, also provides opportunity for a good look at that movement’s various philosophies and methods; readers interested in the subject will find the appended bibliographical essay an enticing gateway to documentary material and recent books. An essential volume. (index, not seen, b&w reproductions, chronology, notes) (Biography. 12-15)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-208-02430-1
Page Count: 163
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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