Gripping and unforgettable.
The account of a plane crash survivor and her journey through the rainforest to safety.
Turbulence rocked the plane; luggage fell from compartments. Seventeen-year-old Juliane Koepcke drifted in and out of consciousness as the plane hurtled through the air; her fall was broken by the rainforest canopy. Thus began the teenager’s harrowing struggle. In 1971, the plane on which she and her mother, Maria, were traveling was struck by lightning while crossing the Andes Mountains. Utterly alone (she would later learn that Maria likely made it through the crash but died waiting for help) and wounded but mobile, she set out in search of help rather than await rescue. Cochrane chronicles Juliane’s 11-day trek, spotlighting the wilderness skills that the teen had developed growing up on the rainforest research station run by her parents, zoologists who had relocated from Germany to Peru before her birth. Moving through the Amazon, Juliane ate nothing but a scavenged stash of hard candy, weighed the risks of drinking river water, sterilized maggot-infested injuries with gasoline, and followed small streams toward a larger river in search of human contact. Fascinating sidebars provide finer focus on rainforest animals, the dangers that Juliane faced, and Peruvian culture. Concluding chapters explore the trauma Juliane confronted and her own career as a zoologist specializing in bats; tips for aspiring scientists are appended. Journalistically direct, occasionally graphically grisly, always compelling, this tale is more riveting than any work of fiction. Final art not seen.
Gripping and unforgettable. (rainforest guide, further reading, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781523528639
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2026
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
This glossy, colorful title in the “I Want To Be” series has visual appeal but poor organization and a fuzzy focus, which limits its usefulness. Each double-paged layout introduces a new topic with six to eight full-color photographs and a single column of text. Topics include types of environmentalists, eco-issues, waste renewal, education, High School of Environmental Studies, environmental vocabulary, history of environmentalism, famous environmentalists, and the return of the eagle. Often the photographs have little to do with the text or are marginal to the topic. For example, a typical layout called “Some Alternative Solutions” has five snapshots superimposed on a double-page photograph of a California wind farm. The text discusses ways to develop alternative forms of energy and “encourage environmentally friendly lifestyles.” Photos include “a healer who treats a patient with alternative therapy using sound and massage,” and “the Castle,” a house built of “used tires and aluminum cans.” Elsewhere, “Did You Know . . . ” shows a dramatic photo of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but the text provides odd facts such as “ . . . that in Saudi Arabia there are solar-powered pay phones in the desert?” Some sections seem stuck in, a two-page piece on the effects of “El Niño” or 50 postage-stamp–sized photos of endangered species. The author concludes with places to write for more information and a list of photo credits. Pretty, but little here to warrant purchase. (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-201862-X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
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