Lugovskaya began her diary about her life in Moscow in 1932 when she was 13. She continued writing about her activities and thoughts until 1937 when she and her family were raided by Stalin’s secret police. The title does not refer to life in Siberia, but about everyday events and her adolescent angst at school and home, her social life, her friends and her frequent comments about wanting to commit suicide. Nina is endlessly in and out of love and worries about her appearance since she is self-conscious about an eye condition (a crossed eye). Readers can see what life was like under Stalin, and they will learn about the Soviet school system and the social life of young people. But will they care? The diary has been compared to Anne Frank’s, but that is neither correct nor apt. Lugovskaya was not hidden nor did she perish when the family was sent to Siberia. Explanatory notes are added to some entries, which might help readers. Includes photos and a reading list. (Biography. 12-15)
Pub Date: June 18, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-618-60575-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2007
A vivid yet even-handed account of the ill-fated Donner Party—the California-bound wagon train that was forced by impassable snow to camp for the winter of 1846—47 on the eastern slopes of the Sierra Nevada, resorting to cannibalism when there was literally nothing else to eat. Calabro neither shrinks from nor sensationalizes this aspect of the story. Instead she places it in a carefully constructed context beginning with the start of the journey in Springfield, Illinois, on April 15, and chronicling each unfortunate decision along the way that ultimately led to the company’s entrapment. Making good use of primary sources, especially the letters and memoirs of Virginia Reed, who turned 13 on the journey, the author tells of Virginia’s excitement at having her own pony to ride west. However, she doesn’t limit the story to Virginia’s perspective, but skillfully profiles many members of the party, including Virginia’s dynamic father, James, who strongly favored taking an unproven shortcut, and the intelligent and perceptive Tamsen Donner, who was firmly against it. The result is a combination of well-researched factual detail, a gripping narrative, strong characterizations, and a thoughtful analysis of the historical record. (b&w photos, chronology, further reading, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 19, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-86610-3
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
The first full-length biography of an escaped slave who became a leader in Boston’s African-American community, this brilliant combination of clear thinking, crisp writing, and carefully mapped research presents a picture of a man who was more doer than dreamer. Attributing Hayden’s low historical profile to the fact that he was neither a fiery orator nor an eloquent writer, Strangis reconstructs his life from a range of authoritative sources, giving him belated due as a militant abolitionist, a tireless conductor on the Underground Railroad who was instrumental both in making Boston too hot for slave catchers in the 1850s, and in the creation of Massachusetts’s renowned black military units during the Civil War. Hayden’s association with many leading abolitionists, from William Lloyd Garrison to John Brown, also provides opportunity for a good look at that movement’s various philosophies and methods; readers interested in the subject will find the appended bibliographical essay an enticing gateway to documentary material and recent books. An essential volume. (index, not seen, b&w reproductions, chronology, notes) (Biography. 12-15)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-208-02430-1
Page Count: 163
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
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