This ambitious exploration of archaeology approaches the popular subject through four important discoveries of hominin skeletons in the past 30 years. The famous finds, located on three continents and dated 1.6 million to 5,300 years old, include Turkana Boy, the most complete Homo erectus yet discovered; Lapedo Child, a Paleolithic ritual burial; Kennewick Man, whose bones became the subject of a major legal battle; and the Iceman, which had skin as well as bones preserved under a glacier. Since each of the discoveries could merit an entire book, the coverage is at once tantalizing and frustrating. The authors, both professors, provide a narrative about each discovery, describe the process of studying the remains and discuss scientific debates about broad implications of the finds. They tackle large topics in too little space while also straining to add a conversational tone that sometimes falls flat. The study’s strength is in the fascinating details and in its potential for inspiring readers to learn more. Unfortunately, suggestions for further reading are primarily books written for adults, although website recommendations are more helpful. Infrequent color photographs add information. (timeline, glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-164-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Feb. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A brief discussion of the development and persistence of gender roles acts as an introduction to this excellent overview of what it has meant to be a girl in this country, from pre-colonial times to the present. Colman (Rosie the Riveter, 1995, etc.) never resorts to a generic ideal or tells the story as if she is speaking of an “everygirl”; instead, she allows a narrative to emerge from the histories and words of real people, from every social, ethnic, and economic level in the US. Some of the subjects and speakers are well-known, others are not (although they probably ought to be), but all are interesting and inspiring. Alice Greenough, daughter of “Packsaddle Ben” Greenough, grew up in the turn-of-the- century Montana wilderness where she did all the things her brothers did; Mary Elizabeth Bowser, a young black woman, worked with Elizabeth Van Lew, a middle-aged white woman, as spies for the Union army; Lilac Chen, a former prostitute in 19th- century San Francisco, tells how her own father sold her into slavery in China when she was only 6; and Yvonne “Eve” Blue, an obviously anorexic 14-year-old, maintained her gaunt frame by limiting herself to 140 calories a day—in 1926. These and dozens of other fascinating people offer more insight into gender roles better than any history text or sociological treatise, in lively writing that is greatly enhanced by page after page of black-and-white photographs, an extensive list of further reading, and a good index. A must-have for most collections. (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-590-37129-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
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