JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

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JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR

Name: JOSHUA CHAMBERLAIN AND THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR
Author: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
ISBN: 978-1-4231-0771-2

ROBERT F. KENNEDY, JR.’S AMERICAN HEROES

by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. & illustrated by Nikita Andreev ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 25, 2007

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Following in the footsteps of his illustrious uncle (or his uncle’s ghostwriter, perhaps), Kennedy profiles a historical figure who, in his view, exemplified the brand of courage and intellect required to keep this country the Land of the Free. Here he highlights the career of Chamberlain, a Maine “citizen soldier” who commanded Union troops in 24 battles, most notably the stout defense of Gettysburg’s Little Round Top and Big Round Top. Those last actions alone, in the author’s moot but thrilling estimation, “saved our country from destruction.” Overheated rhetoric aside, Kennedy does make a good case in this engrossing, well-told tale for more recognition of Chamberlain’s heroic achievements both on and off the battlefield. Illustrations include accurately detailed color sketches, a map and a pair of portrait photos. (brief reading list) (Biography. 10-13)

Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-4231-0771-2

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2008

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S HISTORY

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WOMEN IN ANCIENT EGYPT

by Fiona Macdonald ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 30, 1999

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In glossy textbook style, this latest entry in The Other Half of History series (Women of Ancient Greece, p. 1746, etc.) illuminates the days and lives of wealthy, middle-class, and poor women who lived thousands of years ago in Egypt. The large-scale format of the book allows elaborate full-color photographs to appear on every page, often accompanied by sidebars with brief quotations from ancient Egyptian writers. These provide the book’s main source of interest; Macdonald resorts to a textbook writing style, with deliberately short, declarative sentences that make the material sound more somber than it is. Nevertheless, this book provides a useful tracing of the role of women in history, and would be a good companion reference to Eloise Jarvis McGraw’s classic Mara, Daughter of the Nile (1953) or Sonia Levitin’s Escape from Egypt (1994). (maps, glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)

Pub Date: Nov. 30, 1999

ISBN: 0-87226-567-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY

- BOOK REVIEW
WOMEN IN MEDIEVAL TIMES
by Fiona Macdonald

- BOOK REVIEW
A CHILD'S EYE VIEW OF HISTORY
by Fiona Macdonald

- BOOK REVIEW
FIRST FACTS ABOUT THE ANCIENT ROMANS
by Fiona Macdonald & illustrated by John James & Gerald Wood

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MALCOLM X

A FIRE BURNING BRIGHTLY

by Walter Dean Myers ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 31, 2000

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With but a light sprinkling of names and dates, Myers condenses his Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary (1993) to picture- book length. Myers takes readers through his subject’s childhood and turbulent career, pausing for significant episodes (such as a white teacher’s suggestion that he’d be better off studying carpentry than law), supplying samples of his vivid rhetoric, and tracing his movement toward visions of a more inclusive, less violent revolution. Placing realistic portraits of X and other icons of the civil rights movement against swirling backdrops of faces and street scenes, Jenkins captures a sense of tumultuous times. What emerges most clearly is a portrait of a complex, compelling spokesman who was growing and changing up to the moment he was cut down. (Picture book/biography. 6-8)