The attractive, red-highlighted design, lively narrative and compelling subject matter will resonate with readers.
In the early years of the 20th century, doctors and researchers were stymied by a mysterious, often fatal illness that seemed to strike primarily Southern agricultural workers.
Patients presented with a severe rash, intestinal issues and dementia, and in addition to farm workers, many afflicted were found in institutions like mental hospitals and orphanages. After reviewing cases from Europe, doctors diagnosed pellagra and associated it with poverty and a poor diet featuring moldy corn. As the disease spread, the country’s medical leadership searched for causes and cures, and the sense of urgency led to the assignment of epidemiologist Dr. Joseph Goldberger to the case. Eventually, Goldberger and those who continued the work after his death identified the culprit as a vitamin deficiency, determined an inexpensive cure and led the way to nutritionally enhanced foods as part of the American diet. This is a highly detailed look at the difficulties of disease control before modern medicine. Jarrow makes clear how societal attitudes hampered efforts to end the scourge as well as the vulnerability of the poor and marginalized. The many photographs also reveal the devastating nature of the disease. The large number of cases described demonstrates the magnitude of the problem, but they can also be hard to follow and require patient readers.
The attractive, red-highlighted design, lively narrative and compelling subject matter will resonate with readers. (Nonfiction. 10 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59078-732-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author.
Deaf, trans artist Man meditates on his journey and identity in this brief memoir.
Growing up in conservative central Pennsylvania was tough for the 21-year-old Deaf, genderqueer, pansexual, and biracial (Chinese/White Jewish) author. He describes his gender and sexual identity, his experiences of racism and ableism, and his desire to use his visibility as a YouTube personality, model, and actor to help other young people like him. He is open and vulnerable throughout, even choosing to reveal his birth name. Man shares his experiences of becoming deaf as a small child and at times feeling ostracized from the Deaf community but not how he arrived at his current Deaf identity. His description of his gender-identity development occasionally slips into a well-worn pink-and-blue binary. The text is accompanied and transcended by the author’s own intriguing, expressionistic line drawings. However, Man ultimately falls short of truly insightful reflection or analysis, offering a mostly surface-level account of his life that will likely not be compelling to readers who are not already fans. While his visibility and success as someone whose life represents multiple marginalized identities are valuable in themselves, this heartfelt personal chronicle would have benefited from deeper introspection.
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22348-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style....
As she does in previous volumes—Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (2008) and The Grammar Devotional (2009)—Fogarty affects an earnest and upbeat tone to dissuade those who think a grammar book has to be “annoying, boring, and confusing” and takes on the role of “grammar guide, intent on demystifying grammar.”
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style. Fogarty works hard to find amusing, even cheeky examples to illustrate the many faux pas she discusses: "Squiggly presumed that Grammar Girl would flinch when she saw the word misspelled as alot." Young readers may well look beyond the cheery tone and friendly cover, though, and find a 300+-page text that looks suspiciously schoolish and isn't really that different from the grammar texts they have known for years (and from which they have still not learned a lot of grammar). As William Strunk said in his introduction to the first edition of the little The Elements of Style, the most useful grammar guide concentrates attention “on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.” After that, “Students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work.” By being exhaustive, Fogarty may well have created just the kind of volume she hoped to avoid.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8943-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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