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CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE

Name: CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE
Author: Maria Ousseimi
ISBN: 0-8027-8363-5

GROWING UP IN A WAR ZONE

by Maria Ousseimi ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 14, 1995

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Five chapters about the lives of children growing up in five war zonesBosnia, El Salvador, Lebanon, Mozambique, and Washington, D.C. The text is organized around quotes from interviews with children. For the most part, these quotes are just long enough to relate a snippet of an emotion or an opinion, too short for factual information or to tell a story. Ousseimi provides context in her accompanying observations and in the brief history of each war that is worked into its chapter. The narrative is most effective when she sticks to this division of labor: remaining dry and factual; leaving the emotions to the victims. When the distinction is blurred (particularly in the chapters on Bosnia-Herzegovina and Washington, D.C.), the book reads like a pamphlet. This shortcoming is not all that serious; the text frames the b&w pictures that appear on almost every page of children in war zones, and these are breathtaking, conveying in many cases what words cannot. (index) (Nonfiction. 10+)

Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1995

ISBN: 0-8027-8363-5

Page Count: 120

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1995

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS AND ITS FUTURE

CONSERVATION VERSUS USE

by Edward F. Dolan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1992

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A well-written, succinct summary covers the major controversies over use or preservation. Distinguishing among conservationists who support ``multiple use'' (including recreation, logging, and mining), preservationists who want to keep wild land untouched, and environmentalists who link preservation to global environmental problems, Dolan presents the history of national parks, forests, and wilderness areas and the threats they face. To personalize the issues, he includes italicized examples: e.g., smog might keep the reader from seeing much at the Grand Canyon. But Dolan's ideas for avoiding crowding problems suffer from somewhat patronizing phrasing, and parts of the book are already dated: some species of salmon have been declared endangered (Dolan does mention the effects of this decision), and no mention is made of Bush's attempt to redefine wetlands to allow housing development, a major flip-flop for the ``environmental president.'' In general, though, Dolan fairly presents all sides, calling in the end for compromise. Extensive source notes and bibliography; b&w photo insert and index not seen. (Nonfiction. 12+)

Pub Date: April 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-531-11062-1

Page Count: 144

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE DEAD-TOSSED WAVES

by Carrie Ryan Amy Silverstein ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 9, 2010

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Decades after the events of The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009), teenager Gabry lives in relative safety. Despite the Barrier keeping the ravaging zombies out of town, Gabry is a terrified homebody who wants only to stay sheltered with her mother, the refugee heroine of Forest. Her nervousness is justified; when Gabry is peer-pressured into sneaking past the Barrier for a night of adolescent rebellion, several of her friends are zombified. (One wonders, if teens sneaking out for a snog is so dangerous to society, how there any humans left at all.) The ensuing chaos sends Gabry into the wilderness where, encumbered by revelations about love and family, she encounters zombie-worshiping cultists, the dangerous remnants of the army and her own past. Whatever comes between Gabry and her mother, there’s one thing they definitely have in common: Like her mother, Gabry experiences an angst-ridden, gloomy love triangle while fleeing from zombie hordes in the forest’s depths. Fast-paced despite the mawkish romance, it will be gobbled up by fans of the first volume like brains. (Horror. 12-14)