A riveting exploration of a tragic fire and the improvements in many schools that followed.
In 1958, a tragic fire consumed a large portion of a Chicago parochial elementary school, taking the lives of 92 students and three teachers.
In engaging prose Jones relates the engrossing story of the fast-moving fire that trapped numerous students in overcrowded classrooms. Many factors contributed to the high death toll. The fire spread throughout the building because wooden stairwells that lacked fire doors acted as chimneys to spread the blaze. The school’s two alarms did not sound until the fire had taken hold, partly because only the school principal was permitted to pull them. Many of the classrooms on the second floor had few windows, and those were almost out of reach of the young students. Transom windows over hallway doors quickly shattered in the heat, and the classrooms rapidly filled with thick smoke. The fire trucks were first sent to the wrong address, and then, when they arrived, most lacked ladders tall enough to reach the trapped students. The need to address many of these lapses formed the bedrock for subsequent fire codes. Using interviews with numerous survivors that provide a very personal view of the fire, this effort is especially thought-provoking. Many archival illustrations accompany the text, including photographs of the evidently mostly white student body, although the captions sometimes vary little from the narrative. Useful and detailed backmatter rounds out a fine presentation.
A riveting exploration of a tragic fire and the improvements in many schools that followed. (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-912777-62-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
An introduction to ancient Egypt and the Pharaohs buried in the Valley of the Kings. The authors begin with how archaeologist Howard Carter found the tomb of King Tut, then move back 3,000 years to the time of Thutmosis I, who built the first tomb in the Valley of the Kings. Finally they describe the building of the tomb of a later Pharaoh, Ramses II. The backward-forward narration is not always easy to follow, and the authors attribute emotions to the Pharaohs without citation. For example, “Thutmosis III was furious [with Hatshepsut]. He was especially annoyed that she planned to be buried in KV 20, the tomb of her father.” Since both these people lived 3,500 years ago, speculation on who was furious or annoyed should be used with extreme caution. And the tangled intrigue of Egyptian royalty is not easily sorted out in so brief a work. Throughout, though, there are spectacular photographs of ancient Egyptian artifacts, monuments, tomb paintings, jewels, and death masks that will appeal to young viewers. The photographs of the exposed mummies of Ramses II, King Tut, and Seti I are compelling. More useful for the hauntingly beautiful photos than the text. (brief bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7922-7223-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Rabid fans might take a swing at this, but younger or less well-informed ones will get a better sense of how the game is and...
A crazy quilt of baseball high spots and memories, distilled from interviews with over 500 former major leaguers and managers.
Though stitched into chronological chapters and, despite the subtitle, covering 19th-century baseball too, Panchyk’s labor of love ends up less a coherent, unified whole than an anecdotal jumble of incidents, records, and firsts. He also seems determined to stuff as many names into his narrative as possible, so that familiar stars such as Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Ted Williams are nearly shouldered aside by a dizzying swarm of smaller fry. And though some offer personal reminiscences about how they broke into the major leagues, too many contribute only the vague platitudes that players still use. The illustrations are largely decades-old photos of players, tickets, and printed programs, and the history turns decidedly threadbare once it reaches the 21st century. Sidebars on nearly every spread mix miniessays on topics ranging from baseball nicknames to select no-hitters with at-times questionable hands-on activities; one suggests announcing part of a real game and then playing the recording back to an audience, which is possibly illegal, for instance.
Rabid fans might take a swing at this, but younger or less well-informed ones will get a better sense of how the game is and was played elsewhere. (index, timeline, resources) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: March 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61374-779-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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