Armstrong (Spirit of Endurance, 2000, etc.) gives the "Dear Mr. President" series a sturdy kickoff with this fictional correspondence between Teddy Roosevelt and a Polish teenager working in the Pennsylvania coal mines. Thirteen-year-old Frank Kovacs is moved to write by McKinley's assassination: "I have advice for you and that is don't let no crazy men near you. They is almost always trouble." Roosevelt's friendly response ("I shall indeed strive to keep clear of lunatics and assassins.") touches off a 16-month exchange in which, as both share carefully researched details about their daily lives, family members, pets, and concerns, Frank raises Teddy's consciousness about the miners' dreadful living and working conditions before, during, and after the strike of 1902. The opening and closing historical essays, bibliography, index, plenitude of contemporary photos and cartoons, plus an associated Web site replete with multimedia articles and links, the correspondents' distinct voices and personalities make this as much a well-told story as a vehicle for conveying historical information. Despite a few bobbles—Frank refers to "scabs" without explaining what they are, and a strike that miners unanimously vote to prolong on one page is suddenly settled on the next—this will score with readers for its clear sense of the time's character and issues, as well as the artful but not labored way the two households are compared and contrasted. (Historical fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-890817-27-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
Taking a page from Avi’s The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (1990), Kehret (I’m Not Who You Think I Am, p. 223, etc.) pens a similar story of a girl who goes to sea. Determined not to be separated from her seriously ill mother, Emma, 12, embarks on a plan that results in the adventure of a lifetime. Sent to live with Aunt Martha and her arrogant son, Odolf, Emma carefully plots her escape. Disguising herself in her cousin’s used clothes, she sneaks out while the household slumbers and stows away on what she believes to be a ship carrying her parents from England to the warmer climate of France. Instead, the ship is the evil, ill-fated Black Lightning, under the command of the notorious Captain Beacon. Emma finds herself sharing quarters with a crew of filthy, surly, dangerous men. When a fierce storm swamps the ship, Emma desperately seizes her chance to escape, drifting for several days and nights aboard a hatch cover and finally carried to land somewhere on the coast of Africa. Hungry, thirsty, and alone, Emma faces the daunting prospect of slow starvation, but survives due to a relationship she builds with a band of chimpanzees. This page-turning adventure story shows evidence of solid research and experienced plotting—the pacing is breathless. Kehret paints a starkly realistic portrait, complete with sounds and smells of the difficult and unpleasant life aboard ship. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-671-03416-2
Page Count: 138
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
PLB 0-531-33140-7 Ketcham’s first book is based on an allegedly true story of a childhood incident in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. It starts with a couple of pages regaling the Bach home and all the Johanns in the family, who made their fame through music. After his father’s death, Johann Sebastian goes to live with his brother, Johann Christoph, where he boasts that he is the best organist in the world. Johann Christoph contradicts him: “Old Adam Reincken is the best.” So Johann Sebastian sets out to hear the master himself. In fact, he is humbled to tears, but there is hope that he will be the world’s best organist one day. Johann Sebastian emerges as little more than a brat, Reincken as more of a suggestion than a character. Bush’s illustrations are most transporting when offering details of the landscape, but his protagonist is too impish to give the story much authority. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30140-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
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