Vivid memories of flights both up and down.
Sullivan, a geologist, oceanographer, and former astronaut, brings unique perspective to this account of a really deep sea dive.
Inviting along readers who are willing to plunge (in imagination) over six miles into crushing ocean depths to “perhaps encounter species no human has ever seen,” Sullivan recalls her 2019 dive aboard the privately owned, two-person submersible Limiting Factor into the Challenger Deep, the deepest point on Earth, located in the Mariana Trench. Along the way, she draws comparisons to her three space shuttle missions. Though the plunge had the ostensible purpose of refining depth measurements at the Deep’s bottom, what comes through most clearly is not what she actually did or saw, but her heady excitement to be going where (she notes) only seven others had gone before. Co-author and illustrator Rosen’s cartoon images and schematics combine with a selection of expedition and stock photographs of sea life and scuba divers, plus depth charts, to fill in most of the gaps. Along with a personal career summary from Sullivan (who narrates) and acute comments about design differences between shuttles and submersibles in terms of the environments in which each is designed to work, the authors add background introductions to the submersible, its attendant ship, and undersea exploration in general. Better yet, they enticingly point out to the budding explorers in the audience how much of the ocean and what’s in it even now remains to be discovered. So: “Dive in!”
Vivid memories of flights both up and down. (maps) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: June 30, 2026
ISBN: 9781536236361
Page Count: 64
Publisher: MIT Kids Press/Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
This glossy, colorful title in the “I Want To Be” series has visual appeal but poor organization and a fuzzy focus, which limits its usefulness. Each double-paged layout introduces a new topic with six to eight full-color photographs and a single column of text. Topics include types of environmentalists, eco-issues, waste renewal, education, High School of Environmental Studies, environmental vocabulary, history of environmentalism, famous environmentalists, and the return of the eagle. Often the photographs have little to do with the text or are marginal to the topic. For example, a typical layout called “Some Alternative Solutions” has five snapshots superimposed on a double-page photograph of a California wind farm. The text discusses ways to develop alternative forms of energy and “encourage environmentally friendly lifestyles.” Photos include “a healer who treats a patient with alternative therapy using sound and massage,” and “the Castle,” a house built of “used tires and aluminum cans.” Elsewhere, “Did You Know . . . ” shows a dramatic photo of Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, but the text provides odd facts such as “ . . . that in Saudi Arabia there are solar-powered pay phones in the desert?” Some sections seem stuck in, a two-page piece on the effects of “El Niño” or 50 postage-stamp–sized photos of endangered species. The author concludes with places to write for more information and a list of photo credits. Pretty, but little here to warrant purchase. (Nonfiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-201862-X
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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