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LIFT EVERY VOICE

Name: LIFT EVERY VOICE
Author: Walter Turnbull
ISBN: 0-7868-6164-9

EXPECTING THE MOST AND GETTING THE BEST FROM ALL OF GOD'S CHILDREN

by Walter Turnbull with Howard Manly ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 4, 1995

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A straightforward but largely banal account of Turnbull's formative years and his experiences as founder and director of the renowned Boys Choir of Harlem. Though raised in a single-parent home, Turnbull's boyhood years contrasted sharply with those of many young black males growing up today. Despite an absentee father, there was a strong mother and several supportive constants in his life. In accordance with the well-known African adage he quotes, Turnbull had an entire village to raise him. And growing up away from white people, he contends, allowed him to develop pride and self-esteem. Turnbull's concern for this generation's young black males, combined with his deep love of music, motivated him to found and direct the world- class Boys Choir of Harlem. Turnbull's life and book assert that unswerving faith in young people will reshape lives. Young black males must be taught ``respect, honesty, integrity, discipline, hard work and love, regardless of America's blatant and subtle forms of racism.'' Turnbull is less convincing in his sweeping condemnations of the public schools, which did not create the profound social problems affecting many students. He portrays both public and private schools as ``inflexible and unable to meet the needs of minority children.'' He glibly declares that ``the system is meant to stifle creativity and maintain the status quo.'' Turnbull unfairly compares his own school's alumni to those of others, not considering the exclusivity of his admissions policy. His school began in 1986 as an elementary school, a successful outgrowth of the Boys Choir of Harlem. Marred by Boston Globe reporter Manly's pallid prose and Turnbull's self-congratulatory tone, this is most valuable when depicting the emotional and physical horrors that many of Turnbull's young charges face. The beautiful music here involves the lives orchestrated, and in many cases rescued, by Turnbull's dedication. (Author tour)

Pub Date: Dec. 4, 1995

ISBN: 0-7868-6164-9

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1995

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.