A Cheshire steeplejack has a harrowing confrontation with diabolic forces entrenched in a tower. Joe Clarke's pride in being chosen for routine cathedral repairs turns to dismay as the evil he senses emanating from a gargoyle when he first mounts the tower escalates to real harm. His young son, lured toward the cathedral in a midnight trance, is interrupted in his journey and ends up in hospital; another child is not so lucky—and finding his body high on the roof so startles Joe's partner that both nearly plunge to their deaths. Joe, whose trade is a family tradition dating back generations, is an expertly realized character—steady, opinionated, with an authoritative knowledge of his craft and its history; a family man with an unreconstructed view of women, plus some sturdy prejudices toward the clergy that he reassesses after the Reverend Morris (a rather obnoxious ``Christian'' proselytizer) proves unexpectedly helpful in confronting the wicked power. A taut thriller, with a horrifically dramatic denouement as the ancient evil is explained and undone. (Fiction. 11+)
Pub Date: April 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-374-37263-2
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
At last, a book explaining deforestation that isn't afraid to name multinational corporations as the primary culprits. In just a few pages, Gallant explains why forests (especially rain forests) are vital to the earth's health, leaving plenty of space for fascinating details of rain-forest life (plant, animal, human) as well as the vicious processes of deforestation in Brazil, Central America, Africa, and the Pacific Northwest. Colorful adjectives, interesting syntax, and human-interest elements sprinkled among the factual accounts make the text easy to read. Given the gloomy prospects for primary forests, Gallant's call for humans to leave them alone may be unrealistic; still, nothing else can save them, as his examples of the timber industry's ``voodoo forestry'' make clear. Gallant does balance his account with the perspective of timber workers, beset with corporate production quotas on one hand and environmentalist pressure on the other. Extensive bibliography; glossary; index & photos not seen. (Nonfiction. 11+)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-02-735774-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A comprehensive, up-to-date, well-balanced look at our industrialized society's poisoning of the air we breathe. Making good use of research she did for previous books on more specific topics, Gay covers a whole range of problems: urban smog (even in places considered clean), acid rain, global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, chemical poisons, radioactive pollution, and hazardous indoor air. She discusses the nature of each (including views of those who don't think it is a problem), how it came to public attention, and its damaging effects, tying them all to global concerns (particularly population issues and problems of Third World countries) and presenting mitigating solutions on both social and individual levels. The b&w photos and diagrams are well keyed to the text. An excellent resource. Helpful glossary; source notes; bibliography; list of organizations to contact; index. (Nonfiction. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-531-13002-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1991
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