Expansive in scope, but underachieves in presentation.
An overview of riverine features and wildlife in general enhances introductions to specific rivers on every continent—even Antarctica.
Flowing thematically from “upper” through “middle” to “lower” courses, the narrative begins with the basics (“What Is Water?”). Chapman goes on to mingle methodical remarks, presented in dense-looking blocks of text, about common geological features from headwaters to deltas, with closer looks at select rivers all over the world. Along with the likes of the Danube and the Mississippi, readers will find themselves riding some less familiar waters—sailing down the rapids of the Yarlung Tsangpo in the Himalayas, for example, where the river has cut a gorge three times deeper than the Grand Canyon. The author also expands his topic, acknowledging efforts to clean up the polluted Ganges and tallying the environmental advantages and disadvantages of dams. Still, his unexceptional prose makes absorbing all the information a chore, particularly in the absence of an index or any other backmatter, nor do the paint by numbers–style illustrations do much to lighten the load. Switching repeatedly between horizontal and vertical orientations for multiple foldout pages, Qu’s images have a generic look, whether depicting broad landscapes, riverbanks crowded with small human figures, or composite assemblages of typical flora and fauna from multiple regions. Pass this up for livelier treatments, such as Peter Goes’ Rivers: A Visual History From River to Sea (2018).
Expansive in scope, but underachieves in presentation. (Nonfiction. 7-12)Pub Date: today
ISBN: 9781536241136
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Big Picture Press
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
Thought-provoking and charming.
A sophisticated robot—with the capacity to use senses of sight, hearing, and smell—is washed to shore on an island, the only robot survivor of a cargo of 500.
When otters play with her protective packaging, the robot is accidently activated. Roz, though without emotions, is intelligent and versatile. She can observe and learn in service of both her survival and her principle function: to help. Brown links these basic functions to the kind of evolution Roz undergoes as she figures out how to stay dry and intact in her wild environment—not easy, with pine cones and poop dropping from above, stormy weather, and a family of cranky bears. She learns to understand and eventually speak the language of the wild creatures (each species with its different “accent”). An accident leaves her the sole protector of a baby goose, and Roz must ask other creatures for help to shelter and feed the gosling. Roz’s growing connection with her environment is sweetly funny, reminiscent of Randall Jarrell’s The Animal Family. At every moment Roz’s actions seem plausible and logical yet surprisingly full of something like feeling. Robot hunters with guns figure into the climax of the story as the outside world intrudes. While the end to Roz’s benign and wild life is startling and violent, Brown leaves Roz and her companions—and readers—with hope.
Thought-provoking and charming. (Science fiction/fantasy. 7-11)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-38199-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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