The plot’s on a mission, though there’s sufficient humor and drama to keep it wheeling along.
Five teenagers find themselves transferred to an experimental science class that’s considerably more hands-on than they expect.
Though they have no special interest in science to start, Malik, Jules, Christopher, Tracey, and Ilyana quickly discover one when they learn that their classroom is a secret, high-tech lab beneath their Southern California school. Better yet, following an introduction to the meaning of STEM, their enthusiastic new teacher leads them out first to help the school custodian deal with a burst pipe and then, on an impromptu field trip, to join a group of specialists who have gathered to find ways of diverting rising floodwaters nearby. These missions involve discussions of principles and techniques in a range of scientific and technological fields, plus the exercise of cooperative problem-solving—particularly when a burst temporary dam traps the students in a flooded house. Rosenberg’s not at his best with character descriptions (Ilyana is “a petite thing,” and Christopher’s a “skinny Asian boy”), but he makes a conscientious, commendable effort to diversify both the teen cast and the supporting adults. Along with undisguised infodumps throughout, he further boosts the instructional agenda with appended sets of review and discussion questions plus amplified descriptions of the episode’s highlighted STEM specialties. Scattered illustrations don’t add much to the package.
The plot’s on a mission, though there’s sufficient humor and drama to keep it wheeling along. (bibliography) (Fiction/nonfiction hybrid. 11-13)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4380-0805-9
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
This bittersweet tale takes readers into a dark, ancient woods in the American Northwest. A father and son make this forest their special place to commune with the wild, to visit with the creatures that live therein, and to revel in the mesmerizing views. One day they find spots painted on the trees, markings for loggers. The boy and his father and family ignite a small grassroots resistance to the felling of the trees. They fight for something they believe in—it is almost a sacred obligation for them—but they are unsuccessful: the laws governing private property prevail. The trees are cut and, luckily, the father and son find another stand in which to take solace. The Rands (A Home for Spooky, 1998, etc.) offer a bright fusion of the cautionary and the inspirational, and the artwork is effective in conveying the outsized majesty of the old growth. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5466-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
A picture book combines the exuberance of children and the drama found in nature for a sly lesson on power-sharing. Henderson (Newborn, 1999, etc.) lands on the wide reaches of a windy beach where young Jim expansively flings wide his arms and claims “All this is mine!” So it seems until the wind blows in a gale so violent that it smashes objects and tears “through the dreams of people sleeping.” An eerie series of black-and-white paintings shows the white-capped waves breaking ever higher and crashing inland; these are so frightening that Jim cries out to his mother, “The sea! It’s coming!” Happily enough, Jim and his mother are able to run up the hill to a grandmother’s house where they weather the storm safely. The next time Jim speaks to the wind, on a much quieter beach, he whispers, “All this is yours.” Large type, appealing pastel illustrations, and a dose of proper perspective on humankind’s power over nature make this book a fine choice for story hours as well as nature collections. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0904-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
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