Different types of soils, how they are formed and depleted, how they can be protected and built up, and why they are so important to life on earth. With a strong environmentalist perspective, the authors describe how soils are endangered all over the world—by overuse in poor countries, wasteful practices in rich ones, and chemical pollution everywhere. They are also careful to present plenty of possibilities offering hope: better farming practices, integrated pest management, and suggestions for personal action by readers. Heavily illustrated, with one or more color photos on each page, the text clearly conveys important concepts, while terms mentioned in the glossary are in boldface for easy reference. A model of effective science reporting. List of concerned organizations; glossary; index. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Jan. 7, 1994
ISBN: 0-8225-2508-9
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Lerner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will need to strap on their helmets and prepare for a wild ride.
Disaster overtakes a group of sixth graders on a leadership-building white-water rafting trip.
Deep in the Montana wilderness, a dam breaks, and the resultant rush sweeps away both counselors, the rafts, and nearly all the supplies, leaving five disparate preteens stranded in the wilderness far from where they were expected to be. Narrator Daniel is a mild White kid who’s resourceful and good at keeping the peace but given to worrying over his mentally ill father. Deke, also White, is a determined bully, unwilling to work with and relentlessly taunting the others, especially Mia, a Latina, who is a natural leader with a plan. Tony, another White boy, is something of a friendly follower and, unfortunately, attaches himself to Deke while Imani, a reserved African American girl, initially keeps her distance. After the disaster, Deke steals the backpack with the remaining food and runs off with Tony, and the other three resolve to do whatever it takes to get it back, eventually having to confront the dangerous bully. The characters come from a variety of backgrounds but are fairly broadly drawn; still, their breathlessly perilous situation keeps the tale moving briskly forward, with one threatening situation after another believably confronting them. As he did with Wildfire (2019), Newbery Honoree Philbrick has crafted another action tale for young readers that’s impossible to put down.
Readers will need to strap on their helmets and prepare for a wild ride. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64727-3
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
A page-turner that creatively explores resonant themes.
When Hurricane Jessamine assaults North Carolina, the Highground Home for Children is threatened by a once-in-a-lifetime flood.
Thirteen-year-old Sylvia Doe, who has brown skin and black hair, is a runaway who’s fled yet another foster home to once again return to Highground, a transitional institution that offers equine therapy for children awaiting foster placement. But this time her journey back to Highground is driven by different concerns. As the hurricane batters the valley, unprecedented flooding threatens the horses, home, and people Sylvia cares about. She secretly hitches a ride in a logging truck, risking her life to save her beloved horses. She also helps Jorna Grant, a mysterious 13-year-old Black boy. Jorna is strange, and Sylvia can’t quite figure him out, although he, too, seems “like a runner. And every runner has a reason.” Her social worker tries to figure out a new placement where Sylvia will stay put, but Sylvia longs to remain at Highground permanently, even though North Carolina state rules won’t allow it. She also has another goal: to find out where Jorna came from and help him return home. She’s also convinced there’s “something much more happening” with the flood. Adventurous and suspenseful, this story pairs environmental science content with a genre-blurring mystery. Field guide–style illustrations of the animals that Sylvia encounters on her journey add a valuable learning component that emphasizes the ecological themes present throughout the book.
A page-turner that creatively explores resonant themes. (author’s note) (Mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781368007580
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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