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INTO THE CLOUDS

Name: INTO THE CLOUDS
Author: Tod Olson
ISBN: 978-1-338-20736-1

THE RACE TO CLIMB THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS MOUNTAIN

by Tod Olson ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 21, 2020

Gripping, well-researched, superb entertainment.

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Olson details the first three attempts by Americans to summit K2.

K2, at 28,250 feet, is the second-highest mountain in the Himalayan chain and is considered by climbers the most difficult of the over-8,000-meter peaks, of which Everest is the highest. In 1938, when Olson’s gripping tale begins, no one had climbed K2. Medical student Charlie Houston and his handpicked team were tasked by the American Alpine Club to scout a route up K2 so that another team headed by climber Fritz Wiessner could summit the following year. Enduring frigid cold and danger, Houston and another climber reached 26,000 feet before descending. Wiessner’s attempt the following year, plagued by poor management, failed to summit also and resulted in four deaths. Fifteen years later, in 1953, Charlie Houston tried again. Olson writes with assurance and empathy, detailing the nearly unbelievable hardships borne by the climbers and narratively balancing the individuals’ obsession to summit against the humanity of the so-called “brotherhood of the rope”—climbers are roped together, therefore literally dependent on one another for their lives. He takes care to include the porters and Sherpas of these early expeditions—too often considered merely as servants by the wealthy white men who hired them—by including photographs and giving them equal credit in his narrative.

Gripping, well-researched, superb entertainment. (author’s note, sources, notes) (Nonfiction. 10-18)

Pub Date: April 21, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-338-20736-1

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Scholastic Focus

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S ENTERTAINMENT & SPORTS

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ENEMY CHILD

THE STORY OF NORMAN MINETA, A BOY IMPRISONED IN A JAPANESE AMERICAN INTERNMENT CAMP DURING WORLD WAR II

by Andrea Warren ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 30, 2019

Written straightforwardly, it’s not the most engaging read, but it is an invaluable record of an incredible life.

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An encompassing look at Norman Mineta, the first Asian-American to serve as mayor of a major American city, a Congressman, and Secretary of Commerce and Transportation under George W. Bush.

Mineta is a Nisei, a second-generation Japanese-American, born in San Jose, California. Writing efficiently with concise descriptors, Warren narrates in the third person, focusing primarily on the family and social environment of Mineta’s school-age years. Warren starts with Mineta’s father and his immigration to the U.S. for work. He wisely became fluent in English while working in the fields, later establishing his own insurance business, enabling him to give all five children great educational opportunities. Their lives are quickly disrupted by World World II. Mineta now 11, his parents, and most of his much-older siblings are sent to an assembly center in Santa Anita, California. Eventually they end up in Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, Wyoming. The experience drives Mineta to later pursue politics and to introduce the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, offering camp survivors restitution and a formal apology from the government. Warren includes anecdotes of white allies, including a chapter about Alan Simpson, a childhood acquaintance and later a political ally of Mineta in Congress. Pronunciation guides to Japanese are provided in the text. Archival photographs provide visuals, and primary-source quotes—including racial slurs—contribute historical context. No timeline is provided.

Written straightforwardly, it’s not the most engaging read, but it is an invaluable record of an incredible life. (author’s note, bibliography, index) (Biography. 10-15)

Pub Date: April 30, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-8234-4151-8

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House

Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY

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THE BOY WHO BECAME BUFFALO BILL
by Andrea Warren

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CHARLES DICKENS AND THE STREET CHILDREN OF LONDON
by Andrea Warren

- BOOK REVIEW
UNDER SIEGE!
by Andrea Warren

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GIVE ME LIBERTY!

THE STORY OF THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

by Russell Freedman ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

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If Freedman wrote the history textbooks, we would have many more historians. Beginning with an engrossing description of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he brings the reader the lives of the American colonists and the events leading up to the break with England. The narrative approach to history reads like a good story, yet Freedman tucks in the data that give depth to it. The inclusion of all the people who lived during those times and the roles they played, whether small or large are acknowledged with dignity. The story moves backwards from the Boston Tea Party to the beginning of the European settlement of what they called the New World, and then proceeds chronologically to the signing of the Declaration. “Your Rights and Mine” traces the influence of the document from its inception to the present ending with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The full text of the Declaration and a reproduction of the original are included. A chronology of events and an index are helpful to the young researcher. Another interesting feature is “Visiting the Declaration of Independence.” It contains a short review of what happened to the document in the years after it was written, a useful Web site, and a description of how it is displayed and protected today at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Illustrations from the period add interest and detail. An excellent addition to the American history collection and an engrossing read. (Nonfiction. 9-13)