by Marc Zimmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2019
Environmental chemistry that is eminently readable and hopeful.
This is a solutions-driven survey of the greatest threats to our increasingly toxic planet.
While covering just the tip of the proverbial iceberg, this overview of environmental chemistry touches on topics ranging from CO2 emissions and pesticides to nuclear fission. It at times delves into scientific details—such as the subatomic breakdown of the elements—and this information is presented in a way that is generally friendly to its intended young adult audience. Zimmer (Lighting up the Brain, 2018, etc.), a professor of chemistry, includes numerous anecdotes that make for compelling reading, for example, relating how Marie Curie’s notebooks are so radioactive that to this day they have to be stored in lead-lined boxes. Included in every chapter are up-to-date events such as the environmental and human injustice of the Flint water crisis. With the litany of hazards explored, it would be easy to feel hopeless, but Zimmer ends each chapter with the heading, “What Can You Do?” These sections provide advice for achievable lifestyle changes as simple as bringing your own reusable bags to the market. Also woven throughout are viable solutions that have already been implemented, such as the Sono arsenic filtration system being used in Bangladesh. Despite the dire subject matter, this slim, amply illustrated book is engaging and even uplifting. Terrific for classroom use.
Environmental chemistry that is eminently readable and hopeful. (source notes, glossary, further information, index) (Nonfiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-1979-4
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
Share your opinion of this book
More by Marc Zimmer
BOOK REVIEW
by Marc Zimmer
BOOK REVIEW
by Marc Zimmer
BOOK REVIEW
by Marc Zimmer
by Maris Wicks ; illustrated by Maris Wicks ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 2015
It’s a lot to take in at one sitting, but this anatomical extravaganza really gets to the heart of the matter. Not to...
A theatrical introduction to human anatomy, as well-choreographed as it is informative.
In 11 “Acts” hosted con brio by a skeletal impresario (“Bring out the lungs!”), Wicks parades a revue of body systems across a curtained stage. It’s a full program, with a teeming supporting cast from Dopamine to Diaphragm, Golgi Body to Gastroenteritis joining more-familiar headliners. The presentation opens with a zoom down to the cellular and even molecular levels to lay foundations for later macro and micro views of digestion, infection, and disease. Following this, the five senses (only five), the “dance of the oxygen fairies,” allergic reactions, and other anatomical processes that make up each system’s major components, most sporting cheery emoji-style faces, expressively demonstrate their respective functions. The reproductive system’s named parts deliver a frank but visually discreet turn with descriptions of erections and fertilization but no direct depictions, and it stops with the onset of puberty. The performances are enhanced by labeled diagrams, pitches on relevant topics from the importance of immunization and proper nutrition to synonyms for “fart,” and lists of important words and further resources. A few miscues aside (no, the speed of sound is not invariant), it’s a grand show, with a logically placed intermission following a peek into the bladder and a literal “wrap” at the end as the emcee puts herself together from inside out.
It’s a lot to take in at one sitting, but this anatomical extravaganza really gets to the heart of the matter. Not to mention the guts, nerves, veins, bones…. (glossary, bibliography) (Graphic nonfiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-62672-277-4
Page Count: 240
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Maria Gianferrari
BOOK REVIEW
by Maria Gianferrari ; illustrated by Maris Wicks
BOOK REVIEW
by Sarah Glenn Marsh ; illustrated by Maris Wicks
BOOK REVIEW
by Jim Ottaviani ; illustrated by Maris Wicks
by Nancy F. Castaldo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 2016
Well-crafted and inspiring.
Championing seeds as one of our planet’s most precious and vulnerable resources, Castaldo delivers a sobering global status report—and a call to action.
Citing our food’s precipitous decline in genetic biodiversity, Castaldo introduces readers to the pioneering plant scientists Gregor Mendel, Luther Burbank, and Nikolai Vavilov. Their respective work (in genetics, hybridization, and the collection and preservation of threatened seed varieties) contrasts starkly with the modern practice of genetically engineering and patenting seed for profit by corporate monoliths. Castaldo vividly sketches Vavilov, whose visionary global conservation expeditions yielded the world’s first seed bank. Falsely implicated and imprisoned by Stalin’s regime, Vavilov died of starvation in a prison camp. Indeed, seeds are both casualties and spoils of war. The Nazis, the Taliban, and other aggressors have stolen or destroyed seed stores, while brave scientists have transported and hidden these critical resources. Blending clear exposition with urgent polemic, Castaldo highlights the important distinction between hybridization and genetic modification of seed, the perils of monoculture, and the David-and-Goliath battles of family farmers vs. Monsanto. She profiles the work of Dr. Vandana Shiva and others—worldwide advocates for farmers’ rights to reclaim, sow, and save genetically clean seeds. Concluding chapters explore heirlooms, the farm-to-table food movement, and exhilarating efforts—both formal and grass-roots—to save and safeguard our remaining, regionally adapted seed.
Well-crafted and inspiring. (call to action, resources, seed libraries, glossary, author’s note, sources, timeline, index) (Nonfiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-32023-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2015
Share your opinion of this book
More by Nancy F. Castaldo
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
by Nancy F. Castaldo ; photographed by Morgan Heim
BOOK REVIEW
by Nancy F. Castaldo ; photographed by Nancy F. Castaldo
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.