by Kerrie Logan Hollihan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 21, 2021
Solidly researched and, no bones about it, both eye- and mind-widening.
Murder and mayhem from the annals of osteoarchaeology, with modern instances of cannibalism and like chewy topics on the side.
Continuing her ventures into the more lurid corners of history and prehistory, Hollihan opens with the discovery and excavation of King Richard III’s hacked bones from beneath a modern parking lot and closes with the still-ongoing project of piecing together and identifying the jumbled skeletons of hundreds of servicemen who died in the bowels of the Oklahoma at Pearl Harbor. In between she reports on rattling finds including the 10,000-plus 13th-century burials at London’s Spitalfields and the immense tolls of various volcanic explosions. She also tucks into Inuit accounts of the ill-fated Franklin expedition and other well-documented cases of people becoming cuisine and, with a certain relish, details how the last czar and his family were shot, stabbed, looted, splashed with acid, dismembered, burned, buried, and reburied. Providing some contrast, she also describes digs that uncovered couples holding hands or hugging each other and sensitively reports on controversies with Native American and other Indigenous groups over the custody of remains like those of Kennewick Man. Photos aplenty add to the fun with views of skulls or half-excavated skeletons in situ, archaeological sites, fleshed-out portrait reconstructions, and historical images. In the pictures, most but not all of the faces (the ones with skin still attached anyway) are White.
Solidly researched and, no bones about it, both eye- and mind-widening. (source notes, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-5535-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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by Sy Montgomery & photographed by Eleanor Briggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001
The author of The Snake Scientist (not reviewed) takes the reader along on another adventure, this time to the Bay of Bengal, between India and Bangladesh to the Sundarbans Tiger Preserve in search of man-eating tigers. Beware, he cautions, “Your study subject might be trying to eat you!” The first-person narrative is full of helpful warnings: watch out for the estuarine crocodiles, “the most deadly crocodiles in the world” and the nine different kinds of dangerous sharks, and the poisonous sea snakes, more deadly than the cobra. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. (Fortunately, these tigers don’t eat women or children.) The author is clearly on the side of the tigers as she states: “Even if you added up all the people that sick tigers were forced to eat, you wouldn’t get close to the number of tigers killed by people.” She introduces ideas as to why Sundarbans tigers eat so many people, including the theory, “When they attack people, perhaps they are trying to protect the land that they own. And maybe, as the ancient legend says, the tiger really is watching over the forest—for everyone’s benefit.” There are color photographs on every page, showing the landscape, people, and a variety of animals encountered, though glimpses of the tigers are fleeting. The author concludes with some statistics on tigers, information on organizations working to protect them, and a brief bibliography and index. The dramatic cover photo of the tiger will attract readers, and the lively prose will keep them engaged. An appealing science adventure. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07704-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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by Sy Montgomery ; illustrated by Tiffany Bozic
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by Sy Montgomery ; illustrated by Matt Patterson
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by Sy Montgomery ; illustrated by Rebecca Green
by Alexandra Siy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2001
In this glossy photo essay, the author briefly recounts the study and exploration of the moon, beginning with Stonehenge and concluding with the 1998–99 unmanned probe, Lunar Prospector. Most of the dramatic photographs come from NASA and will introduce a new generation of space enthusiasts to the past missions of Project Mercury, Gemini, and most especially the moon missions, Apollo 1–17. There are plenty of photographs of various astronauts in space capsules, space suits, and walking on the moon. Sometimes photographs are superimposed one on another, making it difficult to read. For example, one photograph shows the command module Columbia as photographed from the lunar module and an insert shows the 15-layer space suit and gear Neil Armstrong would wear for moonwalking. That’s a lot to process on one page. Still, the awesome images of footprints on the moon, raising the American flag, and earthrise from the moon, cannot help but raise shivers. The author concludes with a timeline of exploration, Web sites, recommended books, and picture credits. For NASA memorabilia collectors, end papers show the Apollo space badges for missions 11–17. Useful for replacing aging space titles. (Nonfiction. 8-11)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 1-57091-408-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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by Alexandra Siy ; illustrated by Marlo Garnsworthy
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by Alexandra Siy ; photographed by Dennis Kunkel
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