Fittingly solid, if not exciting.
An experienced nonfiction writer ably summarizes the life of the 46th president.
Long political and personal preparation led to Joe Biden’s inauguration as U.S. president in 2021. Currie neatly fits the details of Biden’s public and private lives into the publisher’s format, dividing his information into five chapters covering the Scranton, Pennsylvania, native’s early years; his Delaware political experience and the deaths of his first wife and daughter; his years in the Senate; his years as vice president; and the successful 2020 presidential campaign. An introduction describes the four-day wait for results after Nov. 3, 2020, and offers an overview of Biden’s path to the presidency. The opening chapter stresses his modest origins compared to most of his predecessors. The author gives examples of Biden’s ability to work across political differences and of some actions which, looking back, caused controversy. He mentions the accusations of plagiarism that derailed his first presidential run in 1988 and the long but unsuccessful primary struggle in 2007-8 before he was offered the position of vice president on Barack Obama’s winning team. The final chapter focuses on the winning campaign of 2020. The writing is clear and evenhanded, documented with primary sources including Biden’s own memoir and a range of news sources. Occasional photographs, with family members as well as political opponents, support the generally positive tone.
Fittingly solid, if not exciting. (source notes, timeline, further research, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-67820-084-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Alternately stomach-wrenching, anger-arousing and spirit-lifting—and always gripping.
The author of Seabiscuit (2001) returns with another dynamic, well-researched story of guts overcoming odds.
Hillenbrand examines the life of Louis Zamperini, an American airman who, after his bomber crashed in the Pacific during World War II, survived 47 days on a life raft only to be captured by Japanese soldiers and subjected to inhuman treatment for the next two years at a series of POW camps. That his life spiraled out of control when he returned home to the United States is understandable. However, he was able to turn it around after meeting Billy Graham, and he became a Christian speaker and traveled to Japan to forgive his tormentors. The author reconstructs Zamperini’s wild youth, when his hot temper, insubordination, and bold pranks seemed to foretell a future life of crime. His talents as a runner, however, changed all that, getting him to the 1936 Olympics and to the University of Southern California, where he was a star of the track team. When the story turns to World War II, Hillenbrand expands her narrative to include men who served with him in the Air Corps in the Pacific. Through letters and interviews, she brings to life not just the men who were with Zamperini on the life raft and in the Japanese camps, but the families they left behind. The suffering of the men is often difficult to read, for the details of starvation, thirst and shark attacks are followed by the specifics of the brutalities inflicted by the Japanese, particularly the sadistic Mutsuhiro Watanabe, who seemed dedicated to making Zamperini’s life unbearable. Hillenbrand follows Watanabe’s life after the Japanese surrender, providing the perfect foil to Zamperini’s. When Zamperini wrote to his former tormentor to forgive him and attempted to meet him in person, Watanabe rejected him. Throughout are photographs of World War II bombers, POW camps, Zamperini and his fellow GIs and their families and sweethearts, providing a glimpse into a bygone era. Zamperini is still thriving at age 93.
Alternately stomach-wrenching, anger-arousing and spirit-lifting—and always gripping.Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4000-6416-8
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
At the time when wholesome singers like Debbie Boone were on the radio, girls from Janis Joplin’s hometown of Port Arthur, Texas, were expected to marry their high-school boyfriends. Joplin, however, preferred to draw and listen to folk and blues music. Pursuing a life of freedom and art, Joplin traveled from Texas to California, where she nursed her talent and carved out a life as a singer. Joplin was intelligent, honest and a bold pioneer for women in music, but she was also devastatingly insecure, a trait that contributed to her drug addiction and death by overdose. Angel showcases the rise of hippie culture and how its ideals of creative expression appealed to Joplin. Quotes from Joplin’s loved ones and photographs (both color and black-and-white) chronicling her life are set against geometric designs in ’60s psychedelic colors, which add interest and appeal without distracting. Young music buffs will gain an understanding of Joplin’s place in pop culture and how, even with her career cut short, she paved the way for today’s female rock musicians. (Biography. 14 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8109-8349-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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