A gripping tale for dreamers, thinkers, and adventurers.
An adaptation for teens of blind sportsman Weihenmayer’s 2017 memoir of the same name.
The prologue offers a brief overview of Weihenmayer’s life, from losing his vision completely just before entering high school to his accomplishment as the first blind person to summit Mount Everest in 2001. The leader of this expedition told him not to make Everest the greatest thing he ever did, so the following year, he made another mark, becoming the first blind person to scale all of the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each continent. When a young quadruple amputee working toward his goal of climbing Kilimanjaro inspires Erik to solidify his own dream of kayaking the Grand Canyon, he begins several years of grueling preparation. A year before embarking on the trip, he’s dismayed to find out he won’t be the first blind person to kayak all 277 miles of the Grand Canyon, but he pushes his jealousy aside and invites the man, retired Navy veteran Lonnie Bedwell, to join his all-male team. Weihenmayer’s voice is clear, direct, and honest, and his descriptions of learning how to navigate white water rapids as a blind person vividly convey his frustrations and triumphs. This story of human versus nature will appeal to readers who enjoy wilderness and survival stories.
A gripping tale for dreamers, thinkers, and adventurers. (glossary) (Memoir. 13-17)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-20677-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
In 1910, Pascal D’Angelo and his father left the harsh Abruzzi region of Italy to escape its impossible poverty and journey to the United States; Pascal was 16 years old. Murphy, a graceful narrator of history, presents the life of the peasant as he journeyed through life in the new country. He never became wealthy or even comfortable, but did leave an impression with his poetry—and this from a man who became literate in English as an adult, largely self-taught (and librarians will be delighted to know that they helped him). D’Angelo also wrote an autobiography, Son of Italy, relating to life as an immigrant and the hard—largely pick-and-shovel—work he did to earn a scant living. Such a telling should resonate when readers think about why people come to a new country where they do not speak the language, do not know the customs, and too often are alone, even (or especially) today. The protagonist does not come through as a sharp personality; he is somewhat shadowy against the times and places of his life. He stands out as a symbol rather than a full person. But his accomplishments are certainly large. Archival photos are interesting but sometimes captions are non-indicative; what do they mean? When and where were they taken? There are two photos of D’Angelo. As usual, Murphy provides details that help set the story. A biography of a common man that is also the history of a civilization and its times. (index and bibliography) (Biography. 9-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2000
ISBN: 0-395-77610-4
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The proximity to pain makes for a choppy narrative but also vitally draws attention to a global crisis
This memoir of modern domestic slavery ends with hope and determination, as young author Hall (born Shyima El-Sayed Hassan) is “one of the fortunate 2 percent” to be freed from servitude.
Shyima’s childhood in Egypt ends when her parents are blackmailed into turning over their 8-year-old daughter to a wealthy couple. Every day, Shyima cleans the five-story house and the 17-car garage, “standing on a stool doing the dishes” because she’s too tiny to reach the sink. When she’s 10, Shyima’s captors move to California, illegally trafficking her into the U.S. After two more years of hard labor and increasing ill health, a worried neighbor calls the police, and Shyima’s journey into freedom begins. A chain of Muslim and Christian foster parents (some protective, others exploitative) leads her to become an anti-slavery activist. Unsurprisingly, Hall’s representations of Arab and Muslim men are filtered through her appalling experiences. Though she acknowledges misogyny “is not what the Muslim faith is about,” readers should expect to find depictions that hew closely to negative stereotypes. Those readers prepared to brave a dense, adult tome could move from Hall’s memoir to John Bowe’s Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy (2007) for a deeper look.
The proximity to pain makes for a choppy narrative but also vitally draws attention to a global crisis . (Nonfiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8168-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
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