Chronicles episodes in an epic, age-old struggle but lightly enough to keep the megrims at bay.
An in-depth look at viruses.
In this work translated from Dutch, the author rightly points out that viruses are ubiquitous but mostly harmless or even, in the case of bacteriophages, potentially beneficent, but here he focuses on those that are “tiny little troublemakers.” Casting them alternately as cartoon villains (“chuckling away” to themselves as conspiracy theorists reject public health measures) and as terrors that wiped out millions, he explains how viruses in general spread, mutate, and can unpredictably jump from animals to people. Along with retracing in exact detail the likely origins of the 1918 flu pandemic, SARS, AIDS, Ebola, and Covid-19, he describes the ways our immune systems respond to infections and significant medical triumphs. The author does sometimes wander off topic in the interests of telling a colorful story, so the Black Death and Typhoid Mary trot by even though, as he admits, both involved bacteria, not viruses. But a poignant interview with three children who lost their grandfather to Covid-19 adds a tragic personal note to all the tales of generalized catastrophe, and following stout arguments for the value of vaccination, the author closes with hopeful notes about new ways to counter future viral outbreaks and pandemics. Panders’ cartoon drawings of microbes with expressive faces, slimy floods of mucus, and a diverse array of victims (some green-faced) further lighten both message and informational load.
Chronicles episodes in an epic, age-old struggle but lightly enough to keep the megrims at bay. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77164-973-5
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)
A true believer presents the evidence.
Expanding on a partial chapter in her outstanding Tales of the Cryptids (2006), Halls makes her case by tallying Native American legends, the many footprints and reported sightings (a map of the latter claims hundreds from every state except Hawaii), the famous Patterson-Gimlin film, the recorded “Sierra Sounds” and other circumstantial evidence. She also interviews scientists and Sasquatch hunters, includes an account of early searches for Tibet’s Yeti, adds the transcript of a panicky 911 call and even covers some proven hoaxes. She maintains a believer's voice, gently challenging refuseniks: "Serious Sasquatch hunters are as skeptical as unbelievers. They are not out to collect great stories. They are out to put together facts. Proof. The difference is, they are willing to keep an open mind." Illustrated with photos, drawings and archival images aplenty and closing with generous lists of print, Web and video resources this is about as convincing as it gets—considering the continuing absence of any incontrovertible physical proof—and should give young cryptid hunters a good hairy leg up on investigations of their own.
All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-25761-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An updated and more melodramatically titled version of a 1994 title, it sounds warnings that have grown all the more...
Bright, sharp nature photos and a special focus on ice-based ecosystems set this survey apart from the usual run of assignment titles on glaciers and the polar regions.
Returning continually to the dangerous effects of global warming, the authors describe changes in climate conditions at both poles and explain how those changes affect glaciers and icebergs. Wilson and León go on to introduce threatened or officially endangered life forms that live in those habitats. These range from algae and the glacier flea (“Each night it freezes, hard as a popsicle, to the surface ice until warmer daytime temperatures free it”) to polar bears and penguins. With side glances at Mount Kilimanjaro and the Swiss Alps, the photos capture Arctic foxes in both winter and summer coats, penguins and puffins at their most photogenic, glaciers rolling grandly down to sea and luminous views of sunlit icebergs and a glacial ice cave. Bulleted facts at the end reinforce the message; leads to eco-activist organizations provide readers motivated by it with means to get involved.
An updated and more melodramatically titled version of a 1994 title, it sounds warnings that have grown all the more immediate. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9799759-0-5
Page Count: 48
Publisher: London Town Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 28, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2013
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