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THE HINDENBURG

Text and illustrations capture the spirit of the zeppelin, described by inventor Hugo Eckener, as “. . . like a fabulous silvery fish, floating quietly in the ocean of air. O’Brien illustrates the history of the dirigibles with meticulous and striking paintings done in watercolor and gouache on Italian watercolor paper. From the front cover, which shows the fiery orange flaming Hindenburg, to the back, which chronicles the last moments of the ship, the author tells a compelling story not only of the disaster but of the dream that led up to it. Compellingly well-told, beautifully illustrated, and skillfully designed, this is a work that will find a wide audience. O’Brien describes the crash of the Hindenburg, then takes the reader back to the beginning of the story, recounting the work of von Zeppelin in the early 1900s, explaining how the dirigibles were built, tested, and modified. He tells how they were used by Germany in WWI to drop bombs on London, and how after the war, for luxury travel across the Atlantic Ocean. Most fascinating are the step-by-step explanations of the design, building, and workings of the Hindenburg, the supreme pleasure craft, which carried 36 passengers and a crew of 61. The author notes passengers had private rooms, a library, a shower, and a gourmet kitchen that stocked 440 pounds of meat and poultry, 800 eggs, and 220 pounds of butter for the three-day crossing. The final section, “Did You Know?,” has additional fascinating facts. For example, “The tower on the top of the Empire State Building was built as a mooring mast. It was never used.” For historians, inventors, and dreamers, this one will fly. (Nonfiction. 9-14)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-8050-6415-X

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000

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EXCLUSION AND THE CHINESE AMERICAN STORY

From the Race to the Truth series

Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality.

An examination of the history of Chinese American experiences.

Blackburn opens with a note to readers about growing up feeling invisible as a multicultural, biracial Chinese American. She notes the tremendous diversity of Chinese American history and writes that this book is a starting point for learning more. The evenly paced narrative starts with the earliest recorded arrival of the Chinese in America in 1834. A teenage girl, whose real name is unknown, arrived in New York Harbor with the Carnes brothers, merchants who imported Chinese goods and put her on display “like an animal in a circus.” The author then examines shifting laws, U.S. and global political and economic climates, and changing societal attitudes. The book introduces the highlighted people—including Yee Ah Tye, Wong Kim Ark, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Vincent Chen—in relation to lawsuits or other transformative events; they also stand as examples for explaining concepts such as racial hierarchy and the model minority myth. Maps, photos, and documents are interspersed throughout. Chapters close with questions that encourage readers to think critically about systems of oppression, actively engage with the material, and draw connections to their own lives. Although the book covers a wide span of history, from the Gold Rush to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the Covid-19 pandemic, it thoroughly explains the various events. Blackburn doesn’t shy away from describing terrible setbacks, but she balances them with examples of solidarity and progress.

Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality. (resources, bibliography, image credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 26, 2024

ISBN: 9780593567630

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024

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OIL

Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care.

In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there.

The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter. They make no such accommodations to young audiences in this disturbing book. From the dark front cover, on which oily blobs conceal a seabird, to the rescuer’s sad face on the back, the mother-son team emphasizes the disaster. A relatively easy-to-read and poetically heightened text introduces the situation. Oil is pumped from the Earth “all day long, all night long, / day after day, year after year” in “what had been unspoiled land, home to Native people // and thousands of caribou.” The scale of extraction is huge: There’s “a giant pipeline” leading to “enormous ships.” Then, crash. Rivers of oil gush out over three full-bleed wordless pages. Subsequent scenes show rocks, seabirds, and sea otters covered with oil. Finally, 30 years later, animals have returned to a cheerful scene. “But if you lift a rock… // oil / seeps / up.” For an adult reader, this is heartbreaking. How much more difficult might this be for an animal-loving child?

Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 9-12)

Pub Date: March 31, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5344-3077-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019

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