by Zan Mitrev ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 17, 2012
A thoughtful, notable introduction to Macedonian lore for both adults and children.
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A children’s introduction to the great Macedonian heroes Philip and Alexander.
A long time ago in a far-away place, the Persians ruled the world, but the mighty state of Macedonia was well-regarded globally for their organizational skills, music and intricate styles of dancing, called oros. Life was told through these dances, and it’s through the oros that the reader meets Philip, the state’s young king (history knows him as Philip II). Later, the reader meets his son and successor, Alexander (known as Alexander the Great). There are four stories about each hero, with Philip’s section describing both the organization and triumph of his army (“The Power of the Oro”) and his sage wisdom (“The Mind Reigns”). Alexander’s tales pick up where his father’s leave off, demonstrating his growth into a wise general (“The First Battle”) and even wiser king (“Love Conquers All”). A love letter to his native country, Mitrev’s debut work is a beautiful vision of an ancient world. His regard for his birthplace is evident from his opening statement of the work until the last page. The reader can feel the author’s love for his country and his desire to bring the stories of his homeland to a new audience. The translation is well-done; the book’s original language is Macedonian, and the prose doesn’t have the choppy awkwardness that other works sometimes have when translated into English. The stories are simple enough for children to understand, with universal themes of empathy and strength, but they also offer a depth and sophistication that make them attractive to the grown-ups turning the pages. Beautifully detailed illustrations add gorgeous contrast and interest to the writing on the page, but color would have improved them further.
A thoughtful, notable introduction to Macedonian lore for both adults and children.Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2012
ISBN: 978-1477239247
Page Count: 112
Publisher: AuthorHouseUK
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by David Grann ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2017
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
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Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorker staff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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by Elie Wiesel & translated by Marion Wiesel ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 16, 2006
The author's youthfulness helps to assure the inevitable comparison with the Anne Frank diary although over and above the...
Elie Wiesel spent his early years in a small Transylvanian town as one of four children.
He was the only one of the family to survive what Francois Maurois, in his introduction, calls the "human holocaust" of the persecution of the Jews, which began with the restrictions, the singularization of the yellow star, the enclosure within the ghetto, and went on to the mass deportations to the ovens of Auschwitz and Buchenwald. There are unforgettable and horrifying scenes here in this spare and sombre memoir of this experience of the hanging of a child, of his first farewell with his father who leaves him an inheritance of a knife and a spoon, and of his last goodbye at Buchenwald his father's corpse is already cold let alone the long months of survival under unconscionable conditions.
Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2006
ISBN: 0374500010
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Hill & Wang
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
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