Deborah Sampson enlists in the Continental Army as Robert Shurtliff to join the fight for independence. Imprisoned for six and-a-half years during the Cultural Revolution, Nien Cheng leaves China to come to the U.S. Peter Malual, a “lost boy” of Sudan, survives rebel soldiers, crocodiles and near starvation and finds his way to America. These and 17 other dramatic stories of journeys to freedom make up this purposefully inspirational volume. The writing is clear and direct, and each two-page spread includes a map, a box of facts and a brief description of the journey. Red numbers in the text guide readers to locations on the maps. Continuing the series that began with Journeys in Time (2001) and Places in Time (2001), this will be a handy resource for reading aloud and for history reports. (acknowledgments, notes, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2006
ISBN: 0-618-22323-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A somber, useful study in how cultures both continue age-old traditions and change, given new circumstances. In her first book, Hazen-Hammond documents that combination of tradition and change among the Indians of the Nambe Pueblo of New Mexico, focusing on Thunder Bear Yates, an eight-year-old, and his family (his grandfather, Herbert Yates, is the spiritual leader of the Nambe Pueblo, a role Thunder Bear’s father, Ben, will assume, as will Thunder Bear). Thunder Bear is a contemporary child who likes baseball and computers, and a member of his tribe, learning the old ways. The author recounts the history of the Winter People, who, in the early 19th century, traveled each winter to the plains to hunt the ko, or buffalo. By 1860 the buffalo became scarce, greatly changing the life of the Winter People. Mere decades ago, Herbert Yates established a buffalo herd on Pueblo land, and renewed the old traditions. Tawny gold light fills the photographs of daily life, the buffalo and the charm of their young, the dignity of the people, and the incongruity of the smooth adobe walls with decorative bear tracks and a roof that sprouts a television antenna. A captivating photo essay, handsomely presented. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46013-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
This is a well-written and illuminating picture-book length biography of a man whose humorous view of life and somewhat wild side appeal to readers of all ages. Children learn how after the untimely death of his father, Samuel Clemens went to work as an apprentice printer and was paid in room and board and “his boss’s cast-off clothing.” This led to working as a typesetter and finally to a career in journalism. Ross (Charlotte Brontâ and Jane Eyre, 1997, etc.) deftly demonstrates that this writer’s outstanding achievement was giving voice to the American spirit; his finest creation, Huckleberry Finn, praised the independent spirit above all. Himler’s evocative paintings and black-and-white line drawings portray the talent and genius of this American writer, against the landscapes and vistas that he made his own. (chronology, further reading) (Picture book/biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-88181-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
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