A child’s experience on a whaling ship in 1851 is brought to life in this fictional account based on two real whaling families’ journals and diaries. Nine-year-old Laura and her younger brother William sail with their mother and sea-captain father on an expedition to the Arctic whaling grounds. They won’t return for seven months or until the ship is filled with 2,600 barrels of whale oil. Laura writes in her diary each day, sharing with readers the routines of eating, sleeping, and learning, as well as the adventures and the hardships of living on a small whaling ship. Excitement mounts as the ship enters arctic waters. Whales are hunted and processed. When unseasonably cold weather sets, the boat is caught in the ice and the captain is forced to abandon ship before reaching his goal. Laura and family travel in a longboat until they are rescued at sea, and there, Laura ends her diary. Allen’s (Good-Bye, Charles Lindbergh, 1998, etc.) sepia ink sketches set alongside the text illustrate many objects that may be unfamiliar to the modern reader. These include a chamber pot, sailor’s knots, and a harpoon. Two-page color pencil-and-oil wash illustrations interspersed with the text give the larger context of the whaling scene. These luminous images sharpen the reader’s understanding of a bygone life. Additional information and historical background are included in an authors’ note, and a glossary is placed at the front of the book for easy reference. A good read with an interesting historical background. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-689-82222-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
Oy silently cries out in frustration that her teacher and classmates do not accept her as Thai; her teacher issues her an “easier-to-remember” English name; and her fourth-grade classmates pull their round eyes into slits and call her “Chinita,” little Chinese. Revealing the challenges young immigrants face in a mixed-race school environment, Oy feels torn between the respect she feels for her Thai culture and the acceptance she wants from her American culture. When she draws her family picture, their eyes are as round as those of the boy who teases her most, further exemplifying her will to fit in. She typifies the average fourth-grader’s yearning in a way that each reader will recognize or remember. Acceptance into a campus girl’s club is contingent upon allowing chubby club members to wear her petite, gold-threaded dress. The slow plot builds to climactic action as school authorities disband and discipline the whole club, whose members are discovered lined up in their underwear waiting for a turn to try on, inadvertently soil, and tear the delicate garment, symbolic of Oy’s tender spirit. In an emotional buildup, Oy is forced to face her choices and reconsider her goals. Marsden, in her debut, draws on her own experience as she describes a loving family guiding their daughter in a difficult time. Those who read this short, character-driven story will remember the parallels between their personal experience and the forceful message, concluding that being kinder to new immigrants builds delightful friendships and provides interesting insights into rich cultures. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-1569-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2002
When Uncle Benjamin writes a letter to Sara’s mother, his sister, in Vilna inviting her and Grandmother Hanna to the 1939 World’s Fair in New York, he requests that Sara’s mother bring with her a photograph of their mother. But Sara has never seen the photograph mentioned in the letter. After searching through her mother’s things, she pays a visit to her Great-aunt Lisa who bluntly tells her that Grandmother Hanna is not really the mother of Sara’s mother, but her stepmother. Sara’s “real” grandmother, who was Great-aunt Lisa’s sister, died giving birth to Uncle Benjamin. Initially angry with Great-aunt Lisa for revealing the secret, Sara forgives her when she makes a gift to Grandmother Hanna of the brooch worn by her sister in the photograph. This bland plot fails to generate much interest for young readers and no mention is made of the imminent danger to Poland’s Jews in 1939. Black-and-white drawings lend an antique look to the text, but do little to attract an audience. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2002
ISBN: 0-374-35920-2
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
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