Had Eleanor Roosevelt kept a scrapbook—an incredibly well-organized and thorough scrapbook—this is how it might feel to look through it. Arranged chronologically, the volume works like a jigsaw puzzle. Open it up, pick individual pieces at random and when placed all together, a full picture of the subject emerges. From her early years in New York’s fashionable society to marrying her cousin Franklin, to the Depression and war years, and through her travels and many charitable causes, Eleanor’s life is well covered, including frank pictures of her early anti-Semitism, her sexuality and her disagreements with her husband over such issues as the internment of Japanese-Americans during the war. Though lacking the coherence of a traditional narrative, it will appeal to readers who only want to dip in and read what looks interesting. The source notes are thorough and the bibliography recommends several books for young readers, as well as videos and Web sites. Photographs, family trees, sketches and even a report card add visual appeal. An attractive and useful resource. (personal note, picture credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-86544-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Anne Schwartz/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2005
Marguerite Henry died barely two years ago, after living the life of which most writers dream: She wrote from the time she was young, her parents encouraged her, she published early and often, and her books were honored and loved in her lifetime. Her hobby, she said, was words, but it was also her life and livelihood. Her research skills were honed by working in her local library, doing book repair. Her husband Sidney supported and encouraged her work, and they traveled widely as she carefully researched the horses on Chincoteague and the burros in the Grand Canyon. She worked in great harmony with her usual illustrator, Wesley Dennis, and was writing up until she died. Collins is a bit overwrought in his prose, but Henry comes across as strong and engaging as she must have been in person. Researchers will be delighted to find her Newbery acceptance speech included in its entirety. (b&w photos, bibliography, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 10, 1999
ISBN: 1-883846-39-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
. Adamson is revered as one of the pioneers of the endangered animal movement; Neimark, though capturing much of Adamson’s milieu and the events of her life, paints her as a talented, but impulsive, moody woman. Growing up in Austria between world wars, Adamson trained as a pianist and as an artist. At 18, while attending a ball, she is carried off by a masked “apache” who declares, “You are mine.” The author burbles: “She felt the strength of his arms and the gritty warmth of his body.” That’s only one instance where the lack of source notes is keenly felt; readers will have to digest some astonishing information unaided. Although her romantic interlude lasts two years, her lover’s identity remains concealed (readers will have to suppose that she knew who he was, even if they don’t); Adamson, pregnant and abandoned, has an abortion, becomes a patient of Sigmund Freud, marries twice, and has two miscarriages before meeting her third husband, George Adamson, a gamekeeper in Kenya, who brings home three orphaned lion cubs. The many anecdotes comprising this biography are interesting, but without citations, leave readers unsettled; what is the possible source for Adamson’s dramatic death scene following a confrontation with a disgruntled ex-employee? “Blood seeped from her, but she felt no regrets. She had always chosen risk over safety. She would not, even now, be victim to fear.” (bibliography, index) (Biography. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201368-7
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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