Strong evidence that science can be scary and silly as well as serious.
Reports from the margins of reputable science, where seemingly wacky ideas can turn into prizewinners for their inventors.
Drawing much of his material from the annals of both the Nobel Prize and its real (much funnier) offspring, the Ig Nobel Prizes, Kallen dishes up a lively, if sometimes also revolting, smorgasbord of scientific highs and lows. Some of the latter are downright disturbing—such as 1950s CIA experiments that involved administering LSD to unwitting volunteers and a 2014 Harvard research project in which students chose to give themselves electric shocks rather than sit alone without sources of entertainment for 15 minutes. Still, the general drift tends toward amusing and occasionally world-changing discoveries, like 19th-century physician Ignaz Semmelweis’ then-bizarre notion that doctors should wash their hands between patients and a 2010 trial that showed the remarkable efficacy of the placebo effect in subjects who knew they were taking sugar pills. Readers will be entertained by a study (helpful to prospective cannibals) of a human body’s caloric content, as well as one confirming the pizza preferences of Togo’s rainbow lizards. Researchers studying slime molds, fatbergs, and whale snot explain the surprisingly broad goals and implications of their work. The stock photos are more decorative than illuminating, but the work is entertaining enough to persuade skeptical readers to engage with the sciences.
Strong evidence that science can be scary and silly as well as serious. (source notes, resources, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781678213824
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: yesterday
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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