by Sadie Keller with Michael McCaul ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 30, 2020
Will resonate with young people who have experienced illness or wish to fight for others.
Keller is a young cancer survivor and a political activist.
Diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia at 7, at 12 she co-authored this book with Congressman Michael McCaul of Texas, her home state. Keller tells her story in great medical detail, but more importantly, she describes her crusade to improve the outcomes for all children with cancer. After she first returned home from the hospital, she independently filmed a video about her experience on an iPad and got her mother’s help posting it on YouTube. Keller has also taken on major speaking and lobbying responsibilities. Keller and McCaul worked together to get the STAR Act, an initiative to promote cancer research, passed. Keller’s family presents white and is economically well off with good health insurance. Keller’s personal story reflects her experience and very special circumstances; the economic reality that affects other children with serious diseases does not figure here. Her relationship with her brother, her dog, and her great joy in baking are described; school and friends are mentioned, but readers may wish for a fuller portrait of Sadie’s everyday life. While the book is message-driven, it is written in an accessible and engaging style.
Will resonate with young people who have experienced illness or wish to fight for others. (afterword, photos, list of supporters, glossary) (Memoir. 12-14)Pub Date: May 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9978808-5-4
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Gavia Books
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2020
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by Stuart A. Kallen ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2015
Cogent of topic, but for readability, it’s aptly titled.
In urgent tones, a call for action as climate change and continuing waste and pollution of available fresh water pose imminent threats to human health and agriculture.
Drawing from recently published reports and news stories, Kallen paints an alarming picture. Aquifers are being sucked dry by large-scale agriculture, lake levels are falling, and water sources above- and belowground are being polluted. Though he points to a few significant counterefforts—the Clean Water Act (1972) in the United States and local initiatives elsewhere, such as “rainwater harvesting” ponds in India and Kenya—these come off as spotty responses that are often hobbled by political and corporate foot-dragging. He also points to shrinking glaciers and snow packs (plus, for added gloom, superstorms like Sandy) as harbingers of climate change that will lead to widespread future disaster. Aside from occasional incidents or examples and rare if telling photos, though, this jeremiad is largely composed of generalities and big numbers—not a formula for motivating young readers. Nor does the author offer budding eco-activists much in the way of either hope or ways to become part of the solution; for the latter, at least, Cathryn Berger Kaye’s Going Blue: A Teen’s Guide to Saving Our Oceans, Lakes, Rivers, & Wetlands (2010) is a better choice.
Cogent of topic, but for readability, it’s aptly titled. (source notes, multimedia resource lists, index) (Nonfiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2646-7
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
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by Martin Gitlin ; Margaret J. Goldstein ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2015
A bare-bones introduction for readers without a pre-existing interest.
A quick history of hacking, from the “phone phreaks” of the 1960s to today’s attacks on commercial data stores large and small.
Drawing solely from previously published reports and documents, the authors paint an alarming picture (“The internet has become a cyber criminal playground”) as they trace the growth of increasingly sophisticated digital attacks on personal, corporate and government data systems. Though they rightly point out that many hackers, from early “phreaks” like Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak on, have been motivated more by the pleasures of creating software or high-tech gear (or, as they acknowledge in the case of Edward Snowden, idealism) than criminal intent, most of the incidents they describe involve theft or espionage. Noting that attacks can come from anywhere in the world and that malware can be secretly installed not just on computers, but on any number of gadgets, the authors project little hope of keeping our information safe from bad guys. Nor do they offer more than, at best, bare mention of firewalls, encryption, two-step verification, strong passwords and other protective countermeasures. Still, readers will at least come away more aware of the range of hazards, from phishing and ransomware to botnets and distributed denial of service, as well as the huge, rapidly increasing amounts of money and data shadowy entities are raking in.
A bare-bones introduction for readers without a pre-existing interest. (source notes, bibliography, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 12-14)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4677-2512-5
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2014
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