Murphy returns to the War Between the States for this account of Antietam, known as the bloodiest battle in American history. As the subtitle suggests, the author makes a direct connection between the battle and the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation, opening by reminding readers that up to this point, the war was being fought nominally over the preservation of the Union, not the underlying issue of slavery. He sketches in the major players—Abraham Lincoln, Robert E. Lee and the truculent commander of the Union’s Army of the Potomac, George McClellan—and how political and military maneuvering led to the blood-soaked standoff northwest of the nation’s capitol. The liberal inclusion of both archival material and maps showing troop movements during skirmishes helps to draw readers in, but what makes this impassioned volume speak—literally—are the many primary-source quotations of those involved, from the least to the most. The author deftly develops his characters, most notably the stubborn, vainglorious McClellan, whose inadequate intelligence and low regard for his commander-in-chief led him to botch the campaign and arguably to prolong the war. Grand. (notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: July 7, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-689-87633-2
Page Count: 112
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
IN THE NEWS
A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history.
In spare verse, Lowry reflects on moments in her childhood, including the bombings of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima.
When she was a child, Lowry played at Waikiki Beach with her grandmother while her father filmed. In the old home movie, the USS Arizona appears through the mist on the horizon. Looking back at her childhood in Hawaii and then Japan, Lowry reflects on the bombings that began and ended a war and how they affected and connected everyone involved. In Part 1, she shares the lives and actions of sailors at Pearl Harbor. Part 2 is stories of civilians in Hiroshima affected by the bombing. Part 3 presents her own experience as an American in Japan shortly after the war ended. The poems bring the haunting human scale of war to the forefront, like the Christmas cards a sailor sent days before he died or the 4-year-old who was buried with his red tricycle after Hiroshima. All the personal stories—of sailors, civilians, and Lowry herself—are grounding. There is heartbreak and hope, reminding readers to reflect on the past to create a more peaceful future. Lowry uses a variety of poetry styles, identifying some, such as triolet and haiku. Pak’s graphite illustrations are like still shots of history, adding to the emotion and somber feeling. He includes some sailors of color among the mostly white U.S. forces; Lowry is white.
A beautiful, powerful reflection on a tragic history. (author’s note, bibliography) (Memoir/poetry. 10-14)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-12940-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
PROFILES
Using illustrations from mid-19th-century newspapers and stories of people actually involved, Bartoletti has written a fascinating account of a terrible time. In the Great Irish Famine, one million people died from starvation and disease, and two million fled to other countries after a fungus destroyed the potato crop, a disaster in a country where six million farm laborers depended on that one crop. Bartoletti’s sure storytelling instincts put the reader in the midst of the drama. Though the layout is dense and uninviting (in galley form), the stories make the narrative memorable. Bridget O’Donnel, sick and seven months pregnant, is evicted from her cabin. “Spectre-like” crowds of walking skeletons in Skibbereen on market day see shops full of food they can’t afford to buy. British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel’s determination to persuade the government to help is thwarted by laissez-faire economic policies and religious and ethnic prejudice. This is history “through the eyes and memories of the Irish people,” and it is history that’s meant to instruct. In her conclusion and extensive bibliography, Bartoletti steps back from her narrative to encourage readers to respond to the hunger, poverty, and human suffering in our own time. An illuminating discussion of the Great Irish Famine and how emigrants contributed to the growth of cities around the world. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-00271-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001
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