Perceptively places a winningly reckless adventurer in context.
In a goofy yet thrilling exploit from aviation’s early days, a pilot bound for California takes off from a New York airstrip—and winds up in Ireland.
Taking Douglas Corrigan’s lifelong claim—that he just read the wrong end of his compass needle—with the grain of salt it deserves, Rockliff delivers an account of his 1938 trans-Atlantic flight. Along the way, she offers thoughtful studies of both his singularly engaging character and the broad struggle to persuade the public that flying was a safe means of transportation…notwithstanding the indubitable fact that many early aviators died young and violently. Rockliff provides a daunting tally of those early victims while vividly capturing how fantastically dangerous it was to fly 3,200 miles over ocean in what was described at the time with some justice as “nothing but an orange crate covered with grease.” She also ably explains how the act made Corrigan into an instant international celebrity by coming at just the right time to offer relief to the spirits of a weary Depression-era populace. He comes off as both skilled flyer and all-around nice guy—a more approachable hero than more famous aviator colleagues like the rich and remote Howard Hughes and the increasingly racist, pro-Nazi Charles Lindbergh. Spot art at the chapter heads includes a small schematic diagram of his modified Curtiss Robin monoplane.
Perceptively places a winningly reckless adventurer in context. (source notes, index) (Biography. 11-13)Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2026
ISBN: 9781324125129
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2026
More a historical narrative than a character portrait, this account of Tecumseh’s efforts to create a tribal confederacy in the Old Northwest focuses on the great Shawnee leader’s many battles and negotiations with then–Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison and then his disastrous—ultimately fatal—alliance with the British during the War of 1812. Replete with side essays on such varied subtopics as the Northwest Territory, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 and the Battle of Lake Erie, it also boasts often–full-color illustrations from archival sources (many of these later paintings and old prints that are inaccurate, as the discursive captions often rightly note, and sometimes too small to make out anyway). In all, this will provide students a coherent view of events if not a clear understanding of Shawnee culture or Tecumseh’s heroic personal qualities. If it's not the 100-page holy grail of middle-grade biographies, it is still pretty close. (glossary, bibliography, source notes, index) (Biography. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-6847-7
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hopping wraps her cogent account of how the Nee-mee-pu (Nez Perce) were rooted out of their homeland and only subdued after a long and heroic pursuit around twin character portraits of the group and of its most renowned member. While presenting Joseph as one chief among several—and not a war chief, as sometimes depicted, but “a peace chief, a civil leader” whose greatest skill was the ability to “sway others with well-chosen words”—she places him in a peaceable, prosperous and steady society that enjoyed good relations with encroaching “So-ya-pu” until broken promises, profound misunderstanding and outright aggression escalated into violence. Joseph argued for peace before and during the tragic “War of 1877” and in later years too as he became a nationally known figure. His tale has been told plenty of times to young audiences, but this iteration comes in an appealingly compact format, with plenty of contemporary photos and maps, plus a generous selection of backmatter. (glossary, bibliography, source notes, index) (Biography. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-6842-2
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
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