A stirring example of “grace under fire” (writes the author, mangling another meme), commemorated in rhapsodic but not...
A tribute to Wallace Hartley, the bandleader who played on as the RMS Titanic was sinking.
When young Jonathan complains that piano practice is “sissy stuff,” his grandfather responds with the tale of how, as a 9-year-old stowaway on the Titanic, he was taken in by the friendly Hartley—who was so impressed by the lad’s talent that he arranged an onboard audition before John Jacob Astor that later led to a life in music. First, though, comes that night to remember (or as Polacco unoriginally puts it, a “date that would live in infamy”), with its rending collision, general panic…and tearful separation as the child reluctantly boards a lifeboat while Hartley remains on deck, playing “Nearer, My God, to Thee” for those doomed to stay behind. “Can you imagine the majesty and harrowing strength…the limitless bravery in that man’s heart,” the storyteller declaims. The musicians who, with like courage, joined Hartley on that fateful night are just dim figures in the background, but the illustrations bring the disaster’s terror and tragedy into sharp focus on the expressive faces of the young stowaway and other passengers and crew (all white). Readers will come away appreciating Hartley’s fortitude and may be equally moved by the closing note (with photos) that his violin, miraculously, was later recovered along with his body.
A stirring example of “grace under fire” (writes the author, mangling another meme), commemorated in rhapsodic but not unsuitable language. (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4814-9461-8
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Tarshis (I Survived the Sinking of the Titanic, 1912, 2010, etc.) again transforms a historical event into a fast-paced adventure story appropriate for lower elementary students. This tale begins on that fateful day, Monday, August 29, 2005. Eleven-year old Barry Tucker is hanging on to an oak tree trying to survive the floodwaters in the Lower Ninth Ward. After the dramatic opening scene, readers are taken back one day in time, to August 28. Life in the Lower Ninth is humming along as usual that day—Barry and his friend Jay excitedly planning to send in an entry to a nationwide Create a Superhero contest—until evacuation orders convince Barry’s family to head of town. Unfortunately, Barry’s little sister gets so ill that the family has to return home and try to ride out the storm. The author’s research and respect for the survivors of Katrina make this a realistic and gripping account that steers clear of sensationalism and sentimentality. Following the main text are “After the Storm: Questions about Katrina” and “Facts about Hurricane Katrina,” both ideal for setting young readers who have been enthralled by Barry’s story on a path to discovering more about the true story of Katrina and its aftermath. (Historical fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-20689-1
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Krensky spins a wisp of history into a diaphanous tale that's accompanied by arty illustrations that fail to add substance or even a sense of period. Thanks to the popularity of an actual series of reported sightings of “man-bats,” intelligent beavers and other strange life forms on the Moon that ran in the tabloid New York Sun in 1833, fictional newsboys Jake and Charlie enjoy temporary prosperity—meaning they can buy meals, and sleep in a bed rather than an alley at night. Jake’s imagination is fired with the idea that words, “even if they’re not quite true, ... can make us see amazing things,” but the hope that the paper will continue to offer such sensationalistic “news” for them to peddle each day is plainly the sharper concern. Krensky concentrates on conveying the newsboys’ hand-to-mouth existence; the stories themselves and the unsurprising later revelation that they were a hoax draw only brief references and quotes in the narrative. These are supplemented by clipped fragments of illegible printing held by the crudely drawn, sometimes anachronistically dressed figures in Bisaillon’s scraped, mud-colored collages. Don Brown’s Kid Blink Beats the World (2004) brings the life of 19th-century newsboys into sharper focus, and when it comes to examining popular hoaxes, Meghan McCarthy’s Aliens Are Coming! (2006) sets the bar. (afterword) (Picture book. 8-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-5110-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
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