A valuable and fascinating resource, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama.
Two Tibetans, 19-year-old Pasang and his 11-year-old brother, Tenzin, flee Tibet, a harrowing escape that includes hiking—in street clothes and worn sneakers—over the 19,000-foot-high “Death Pass” of the Himalayas.
Pasang had already left Chinese-run Tibet once, becoming a novice Buddhist monk in India, returning home to help his brother seek a better life. The pair travels by train cross-country to Lhasa, where they spend several weeks evading Chinese police and amassing a nest egg by begging. A first attempt to cross a bridge to Nepal leads to capture and torture by Chinese border guards. That makes the frigid, perilous journey over the world’s highest mountains seem like a safer alternative, but their suffering is intense, and even their eventual safe arrival in Nepal doesn’t appear to guarantee the refugee status that will allow them to remain. During their flight, part of their journey is filmed by a British team and later made into a documentary; co-author Gray is the filmmaker. Although this collaboration includes dialogue that can only be surmised, Pasang and Tenzin subsequently “shared…extensive descriptions of their experiences and feelings” with Gray, which grounds the account. The graphic depiction of their experiences is so riveting that it reads like fiction, making the photographic insert a jarring reminder of reality.
A valuable and fascinating resource, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama. (glossary, timeline of Tibet, history of Chinese-Tibetan relations, history of Buddhism in Tibet) (Nonfiction. 11-16)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55451-663-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Catnip for scandal junkies, with a bit of historical perspective stirred in.
A gleefully explicit catalogue of the past century’s headline-grabbing bad behavior.
Aimed at readers who don’t need to be told who Brangelina is but may be hazy on “twisted besties” Leopold and Loeb or even Monica Lewinsky, this edutaining survey presents a wide-angle array of murders, sexual follies, controversial trials, race violence, political corruption and general envelope-pushing from the 1906 killing of Stanford White on. Each of the chronologically arranged entries opens with a capsule “Scoop” followed by a slightly fuller account under a “What Went Down” header. Along with a small black-and-white photo and one or two sidebar quotes, the author tacks on subsequent developments, sometimes-perceptive suggestions about “Why We Still Care” and a short roster of similar incidents in recent history. Though she misspells “Symbionese” and repeatedly awards FDR only three Presidential wins, in general Fryd presents reasonably accurate summaries of events and issues while giving all sides of the more muddled conflicts at least a nod. Additional cred is provided by a teen panel of editorial advisors.
Catnip for scandal junkies, with a bit of historical perspective stirred in. (index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9827322-0-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Zest/Orange Avenue
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
A good first volume for a new generation of John Lennon fans.
Twin narratives converge in New York City on December 8, 1980, when John Lennon was murdered by Mark David Chapman.
Behnke calls the murder an assassination, and by the general definition of the word—“to murder (a usually prominent person) by sudden or secret attack, often for political reasons”—the murder of John Lennon might qualify. Lennon was political by the end of his life, writing “Give Peace a Chance,” which became the anthem of the peace movement, but he was hardly a revolutionary, as Behnke terms him. Chapman was not especially political, and he didn’t really seem to know why he attacked Lennon; it was certainly not from any well-thought-out political motives, as the author herself describes. The volume will have plenty of eye appeal for young readers, though, with its lively (if overdone) black-and-white design, well-chosen photographs and thorough backmatter that includes a handy timeline and a “Who’s Who?” section. The writing is mostly clear, though occasionally awkward and too often interrupted by unnecessary definitions and asides. It's an adequate starter book for readers a bit young for Elizabeth Partridge’s John Lennon: All I Want is the Truth (2005).
A good first volume for a new generation of John Lennon fans. (source notes, bibliography, for further information, index, about the author) (Nonfiction. 11-16)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-8225-9036-1
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 14, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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