A fascinating slice of American history fueled by the power of original ideas and teamwork.
Creative thinking leads to a significant military victory in Pattison’s middle-grade historical account.
“Sometimes battles are fought with guns and bravery. But sometimes battles are fought with walls and a good engineer, like Rufus Putnam….” The author expertly crafts a colorful, fact-based narrative for middle-grade and older elementary school readers around the key role that Continental Army engineer Rufus Putnam played in the Revolutionary War, using his technical expertise to enable Gen. George Washington to recapture the city of Boston from British control. Washington’s troops required walls to protect the soldiers firing cannons at the British, but the frozen ground made digging foundations impossible; nothing short of an engineering miracle would provide a solution (Pattison relates how others, including Col. Henry Knox, QM Thomas Mifflin, and, indirectly, Gen. William Heath, were essential in making Putnam’s innovative design for walls that could be solidly built on frozen ground a reality). In addition to giving young readers an intriguing look at a specific event in early American history, Pattison delivers an empowering underlying message in her portrayal of long-ago figures as regular people who became problem solvers when faced with a high-stakes dilemma and who, by working together, achieved an astonishing victory. The author adds a touch of suspense with Washington’s need to keep the British in the dark until it was too late for their troops to do anything but retreat (“Shhh! If the British heard them, all would be lost”). The clear text is set against Kole’s crisp, full-page digital illustrations that capture people, time, and place in a well-designed cartoon style, with clean lines and saturated colors. Pictorial maps, Putnam’s sketched plans, and, on one page, a brief biographical sketch of Washington’s cannon provider, Henry Knox, blend informational elements smoothly into the book’s design. The backmatter includes biographical information about Putnam as well as specifics about the source materials used.
A fascinating slice of American history fueled by the power of original ideas and teamwork.Pub Date: July 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781629442204
Page Count: 34
Publisher: Mims House
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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