Typecast characters aside, this heavy but nourishing banquet of facts will slide down easily thanks to the art’s mix of...
In a mix of comic-book panels and print, a wild ride through the digestive system is positively clogged with scientific information.
Opening a trilogy originally published in Korean, the tale puts fussbudget Dr. Brain and reckless young Geo aboard a virus-shaped experimental craft that, à la The Fantastic Voyage, shrinks to microscopic size just in time to be inadvertently gobbled down by Phoebe—a cast member with dark skin, “jungle instincts” and a huge appetite. With Dr. Brain explaining in detail both anatomical features and what’s coming next, he and Geo view extreme close-ups of Phoebe’s mouth, esophagus and stomach as she chews and swallows. Then it’s “ONWARD TO THE DUODENUM!” Narrowly surviving hazards from peristalsis to indigestion as they go, and blasting potential menaces from H. pylori bacteria to slavering hookworms, the voyagers nearly make it to Pheobe’s anus before they’re absorbed into the intestinal wall to set the stage for the next episode. Interspersed among the pages of high-action, manga-style pages of comic art are frequent spreads of conventional text that repeat and expand on Dr. Brain’s adjacent lectures. The interlocking infodumps not only provide overviews of each stage of digestion (with side notes on topics like proper nutrition, sanitary practices and common diseases), but also identify, for instance, the three types of salivary glands, the specific anthelmintic drug for hookworm infestation, and fecal indicators of disease.
Typecast characters aside, this heavy but nourishing banquet of facts will slide down easily thanks to the art’s mix of often gross physical comedy and recognizably rendered anatomy. (index) (Graphic nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-159327-471-9
Page Count: 184
Publisher: No Starch Press
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2013
In the same format as his Newbery Honor title The Great Fire (1995), Murphy brings the blizzard of 1888 to life. He shows how military weather-monitoring practices, housing and employment conditions, and politics regarding waste management, transportation monopolies, and utilities regulation, all contributed to—and were subsequently affected by—the disaster. He does so through an appealing narrative, making use of first-hand accounts whose sources he describes in his notes at the end (though, disappointingly he cites nothing directly in the text). The wealth of quotable material made available through the letters of members of “the Society of Blizzard Men and Blizzard Ladies” and other sources help to make the story vivid. Many drawings and photographs (some of the blizzard, but most of related scenes) illustrate the text. These large reproductions are all in a sepia-tone that matches the color of the typeface—an effect that feels over-the-top, but doesn’t detract significantly from the power of the story. Murphy’s ability to pull in details that lend context allows him to tell this story of a place in time through the lens of a single, dramatic episode that will engage readers. This is skillfully done: humorous, jaw-dropping, thought-provoking, and chilling. (index) (Nonfiction. 9-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-590-67309-2
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The author of The Snake Scientist (not reviewed) takes the reader along on another adventure, this time to the Bay of Bengal, between India and Bangladesh to the Sundarbans Tiger Preserve in search of man-eating tigers. Beware, he cautions, “Your study subject might be trying to eat you!” The first-person narrative is full of helpful warnings: watch out for the estuarine crocodiles, “the most deadly crocodiles in the world” and the nine different kinds of dangerous sharks, and the poisonous sea snakes, more deadly than the cobra. Interspersed are stories of the people who live in and around the tiger preserve, information on the ecology of the mangrove swamp, myths and legends, and true life accounts of man-eating tigers. (Fortunately, these tigers don’t eat women or children.) The author is clearly on the side of the tigers as she states: “Even if you added up all the people that sick tigers were forced to eat, you wouldn’t get close to the number of tigers killed by people.” She introduces ideas as to why Sundarbans tigers eat so many people, including the theory, “When they attack people, perhaps they are trying to protect the land that they own. And maybe, as the ancient legend says, the tiger really is watching over the forest—for everyone’s benefit.” There are color photographs on every page, showing the landscape, people, and a variety of animals encountered, though glimpses of the tigers are fleeting. The author concludes with some statistics on tigers, information on organizations working to protect them, and a brief bibliography and index. The dramatic cover photo of the tiger will attract readers, and the lively prose will keep them engaged. An appealing science adventure. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07704-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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