A worthy companion to Catherine Thimmesh’s Team Moon (2006) with similar appeal.
A team effort sends a space probe to the edge of our solar system.
When New Horizons flew by Pluto and sent home data and images in 2015, it was the culmination of a 26-year campaign (and a nine-year journey) and the first-ever exploration of that far-distant ice dwarf planet. Science writer and self-described “space geek” Carson and her photographer husband introduce their comprehensive description of this collaborative mission by showing the jubilant scene at the mission operations center as the spacecraft revealed its first close-up images. Then, chapter by chapter, they explain its purpose; the makeup of the craft and the instruments it carries; the journey across the solar system to Pluto, which was demoted from planet to dwarf planet during the 9 years but turned out to have 4 more moons than previously thought; some major discoveries from this first encounter; and the continuation of the mission into the Kuiper belt of small planets. Sidebars and longer sections called “Mission Briefs” provide additional information. The author’s enthusiasm shines through her clear, conversational narrative, and she quotes from personal interviews as well as press conferences and releases, extending the book’s intimacy. Uhlman’s well-captioned photographs of the team members (mostly white and male) are nicely mixed with photos from NASA and elsewhere and occasional digital illustrations.
A worthy companion to Catherine Thimmesh’s Team Moon (2006) with similar appeal. (glossary, web resources, sources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-544-41671-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An only-serviceable collective biography for those interested in the history of the movement. (Collective biography. 10-13)
Brief biographies of early conservationists and environmentalists provide a look at the development of the movement.
Readers meet John James Audubon, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Roger Tory Peterson and Rachel Carson, as well as less familiar names: Cordelia Stanwood, Gifford Pinchot, Aldo Leopold, Marjory Stoneman Douglas and Margaret “Mardy” Murie. Each featurette is about six to eight pages long, offering enough detail to provide a flavor of the people’s lives and explain their significance to the movement. Each chapter includes one or more activities (mostly simple science experiments) themed to match the biography—not always successfully. The activity for the Muir chapter is to bake oatmeal scones, which seems strange when compared to others: bird identification, making a plaster cast of an animal footprint or a bird feeder, etc. The last section describes future challenges. The text is mostly written in short sentences that don’t jibe with the more complex content and may sometimes perplex readers: “For years, we’ve heard the cry, ‘Save the rainforest!’ This is another side of deforestation.” This effort offers an odd mix of complexity and oversimplification: “The rate of global warming can be slowed if people will take a few simple steps”—carpooling, using public transit, eschewing motorized transportation and limiting trips. More useful for the biographies than the environmental information.
An only-serviceable collective biography for those interested in the history of the movement. (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-56976-718-4
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
Just another fabulously wealthy high school dropout role model.
Bland, standard-issue profile of a (now) 26-year-old Internet entrepreneur.
Citing only previously published sources, the author retraces Karp’s rocketlike rise from disaffected student and teenage computer nerd to chief architect of Tumblr. Since he hasn’t really done much, aside from leaving school early, spending a few months in Japan and then making a zillion dollars since 2007 with his microblogging platform, the narrative is largely an eye-glazing tally of internships, business associates, awards and dizzying statistical milestones. Kenney neglects to analyze Tumblr’s innovations, online community or general context—or for that matter, even to explain the origins of “tumblelog,” from which the platform’s name is derived. Her insights into Karp’s character are limited to mentions of idols Steve Jobs (extolled for his “keynotes”) and Willy Wonka and his habit of carrying a paper notebook because “[being] on computers all the time makes me feel gross.” Many of the color photos are space-filler views of city skylines or the outsides of buildings.
Just another fabulously wealthy high school dropout role model. (endnotes, bibliography, index) (Biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4677-1285-9
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Lerner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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