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E. COLI 0157

Name: E. COLI 0157
Author: Mary Heersink
ISBN: 0-88282-143-1

THE TRUE STORY OF A MOTHER'S BATTLE WITH A KILLER MICROBE

by Mary Heersink ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1996

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A mother's emotion-laden and detail-rich account of a battle waged not by her but by her son's body against toxins from a deadly pathogen. In February 1992, while on a Boy Scout outing, Heersink's eleven-year-old son, Damion, ate a hamburger tainted with the microbe E. coli 0157. Heersink, now a food safety activist and spokesperson for Safe Tables Our Priority (S.T.O.P.), but then unaware of the seriousness of her son's stomach complaints, drove him from their home in Alabama to Florida to begin camp. When his condition worsened en route, she took him to the emergency room at a small hospital, from which he was transferred to the pediatric intensive care unit at Tampa's St. Joseph's Children's Hospital. He remained there until early April, undergoing seven surgical procedures as the toxins in his body savaged, in turn, his kidneys, intestines, lungs, heart, and then intestines again. Throughout, Heersink lived in the hospital, accompanied most of the time by her physician husband, who marshalled specialists, collaborated with his son's doctors, and monitored him closely. Heersink's reconstructed day-by-day journal chronicling Damion's brief ups and perilous downs generally rings true, but some conversations seem to have been recalled faultily: Words presented as those of a worried mother—''Not only has the fluid reaccumulated to the same degree within his pericardial membrane, but the stress of this fluid is now beginning to negatively impact on his heart function''—sound more like a doctor's explanation. While the main story is Damion's battle, a secondary theme is Heersink's evolution from blind faith in the curative powers of medicine to recognition of its limitations. A sketchy summary of S.T.O.P.'s efforts to improve food safety conclude the text. Stirring medical melodrama with a serious purpose. (Author tour; TV and radio satellite tour)

Pub Date: July 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-88282-143-1

Page Count: 294

Publisher: New Horizon

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.