A well-measured biography sure to inspire budding young scientists.
Courtney’s middle-grade nonfiction debut describes the career of behavioral research scientist Dr. Donna Kean, who worked training giant pouched rats for search and rescue operations.
Hailing from a poor neighborhood in Glasgow, Scotland, Kean enjoyed a loving upbringing among extended family. Her interest in science was shaped by several factors, most notably her love of animals (kickstarted when her family adopted a stray dog); exposure to natural beauty, such as the Isle of Harris, the largest island in the Outer Hebrides; and a curious, questioning nature that was both encouraged and inspired by her virologist mother. Kean majored in psychology at the University of Strathclyde and pursued her interest in animal communication in a master’s program through the University of Kent before earning her Ph.D. from the University of Stirling. Having graduated, Kean moved from Scotland to Tanzania to take up a position with APOPO, a Belgian organization that does remarkable work with African giant pouched rats. Larger and more long-lived than pet rats, cohorts of these giant pouched “HeroRATs” have been lovingly trained to sniff out landmines (achieving in 30 minutes what would take a human expert up to four days) and to screen sputum samples for tuberculosis (again, at many magnitudes quicker and with more accuracy than human clinicians). Excited by the HeroRATs’ aptitude for such tasks, Kean has been training a new cohort of “RescueRATs” (aka “rats with backpacks!”) to search for survivors in collapsed buildings. Courtney, who has previously published middle-grade novels—including Cloudscape: Matilda’s Story (2019)—adapts well to nonfiction, providing facts in straightforward prose but with a storyteller’s knack for building character. The assiduous focus (half the book) on Kean’s life prior to her work at APOPO may inculcate readers with a sense that passion, curiosity, and hard work can lead a child from a poor background toward the world of scientific research. Once Courtney establishes Kean’s background, she shifts from past to present tense and reveals the wonders of rat research—the extraordinary feats achieved at APOPO before Dr. Kean’s arrival and her even more ambitious work in progress. The book is text heavy but astutely laid out with photos and inlays, and textual variation adds color and emphasis to quotes.
A well-measured biography sure to inspire budding young scientists.Pub Date: Feb. 22, 2025
ISBN: 9798991498227
Page Count: 44
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: March 25, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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