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PATIENT ZERO

Name: PATIENT ZERO
Author: Marilee Peters
ISBN: 978-1-55451-671-1

SOLVING THE MYSTERIES OF DEADLY EPIDEMICS

by Marilee Peters ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 15, 2014

However, the writing style is engaging, the complexity of information is appropriate for a middle to high school audience,...

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Few might regard the field of epidemiology as a first-rate opportunity for sleuthing, but this fascinating effort may change that.

Peters chronicles seven important epidemics that included epidemiological work, from the very infancy of the field through its growing sophistication: the bubonic plague in London, 1665; the cholera epidemic in London, 1854; yellow fever in Cuba as its mosquito source was finally identified in 1900; the typhoid cases in New York City in 1906 that led to the identification of a carrier, “Typhoid Mary”; the influenza pandemic of 1918-19; the initial appearance of Ebola virus in Zaire, 1976; and the first recognition of AIDS in California in 1980. Each of these sections begins with a brief, imaginative narrative, some of which include speculative dialogue. Separate features, either in the form of entire pages in a contrasting color or, less often, set against corked flasks of…something—a contaminated culture, perhaps?—or a black doctor’s bag, are very liberally sprinkled through the book, making the choice of what to read first sometimes unclear. A couple of errors in copy editing and layout compound that issue.

However, the writing style is engaging, the complexity of information is appropriate for a middle to high school audience, and the mysterious nature of unexplained epidemics is perfectly captured, more than compensating for the deficiencies. (Nonfiction. 11-18)

Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-55451-671-1

Page Count: 168

Publisher: Annick Press

Review Posted Online: Aug. 19, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S HEALTH & DAILY LIVING

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MAN WHO KNEW EVERYTHING
by Marilee Peters ; illustrated by Roxanna Bikadoroff

- BOOK REVIEW
MAKING IT RIGHT
by Marilee Peters

- BOOK REVIEW
10 RIVERS THAT SHAPED THE WORLD
by Marilee Peters ; illustrated by Kim Rosen

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THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES

by Oliver Stone and Peter Kuznick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 30, 2012

Preaching to the choir, perhaps, but an invigorating sermon all the same.

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Zinn-ian conspiracy theories, propounded engagingly and energetically by filmmaker and gadfly Stone and Cold War scholar Kuznick (History/American Univ.).

If you’ve read Howard Zinn—or if, like Jeff Lebowski, the Port Huron Statement is still current news for you—then you’ll have at least some of the outlines of this overstuffed argument. Premise 1: Though the United States may pretend to be a nice, cuddly sort of democracy, it’s the font of much trouble in the world. Premise 2: When, post-9/11, neocons began pondering why it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for the U.S. to become an imperial power, they were missing a train (or Great White Fleet) that had pulled out of the station long ago. Premise 3: We like European fascists better than Asian fascists, as evidenced by propaganda posters depicting our erstwhile Japanese foes as rats and vermin. Premise 4: War is a racket that benefits only the ruling class. Premise 5: JFK knew more than he had a chance to make public, and he was gunned down for his troubles. And so forth. Layered in with these richly provocative (and eminently arguable) theses are historical aperçus and data that don’t figure in most standard texts—e.g., the showdown between Bernard Baruch and Harry Truman (“in a colossal failure of presidential leadership”) that could only lead to a protracted struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union for post–World War II dominance. Some familiar villains figure in as well, notably the eminently hissable Henry Kissinger and his pal Augusto Pinochet; the luster of others whom we might want to think of as good guys dims (George H.W. Bush in regard to Gorbachev), while other bad guys (George W. Bush in regard to Saddam Hussein) get worse.

Preaching to the choir, perhaps, but an invigorating sermon all the same.

Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-4516-1351-3

Page Count: 784

Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012

Categories:

GENERAL HISTORY | UNITED STATES | HISTORY | CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL SCIENCES

- BOOK REVIEW
CHASING THE LIGHT
by Oliver Stone

- BOOK REVIEW
THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, VOLUME 2
by Oliver Stone & Peter Kuznick ; adapted by Eric S. Singer

- BOOK REVIEW
THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, VOLUME 1
by Oliver Stone ; Peter Kuznick ; adapted by Susan Campbell Bartoletti

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MISSISSIPPI RIVER

A JOURNEY DOWN THE FATHER OF WATERS

by Peter Lourie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2000

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Intrepid explorer Lourie tackles the “Father of Waters,” the Mighty Mississippi, traveling by canoe, bicycle, foot, and car, 2,340 miles from the headwaters of the great river at the Canadian border to the river’s end in the Gulf of Mexico. As with his other “river titles” (Rio Grande, 1999, etc.), he intertwines history, quotes, and period photographs, interviews with people living on and around the river, personal observations, and contemporary photographs of his journey. He touches on the Native Americans—who still harvest wild rice on the Mississippi, and named the river—loggers, steamboats, Civil War battles, and sunken treasure. He stops to talk with a contemporary barge pilot, who tows jumbo-sized tank barges, or 30 barges carrying 45,000 tons of goods up and down and comments: “You think ‘river river river’ night and day for weeks on end.” Lourie describes the working waterway of locks and barges, oil refineries and diesel engines, and the more tranquil areas with heron and alligators, and cypress swamps. A personal travelogue, historical geography, and welcome introduction to the majestic river, past and present. (Nonfiction. 10-14)