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CALL OF THE KLONDIKE

Name: CALL OF THE KLONDIKE
Author: David Meissner
ISBN: 978-1-59078-823-3

A TRUE GOLD RUSH ADVENTURE

by David Meissner ; Kim Richardson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2013

A memorable adventure, told with great immediacy.

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A remarkable collection of documents paints a picture of the Klondike gold rush in vivid detail.

In 1897, two 20-something Yale grads, Stanley Pearce and Marshall Bond, were among the first to hear about the gold found in the Klondike. They quickly booked tickets on a ship, gathered food and equipment, and headed north, hoping to strike it rich. Their mining backgrounds and monetary help from their families gave them an edge over their fellow fortune seekers, but the obstacles were still enormous, as their letters make clear, including two months of grueling travel over mountain passes and down the Yukon River. Adding only transitional paragraphs, the authors skillfully arrange these letters plus diary entries, telegrams and Pearce’s articles for the Denver Republican to convey the men’s story in compelling, first-person voices. The attractive design incorporates intriguing pull-out quotes, maps, posters, documents and many well-chosen, captioned photographs, including one of Jack London, who camped near Pearce and Bond’s cabin. London, also mentioned in a diary entry, later kept in touch with Bond and based the fictional dog Buck on one of Bond’s dogs, making this an excellent companion to The Call of the Wild.

A memorable adventure, told with great immediacy. (timeline, author’s notes, bibliography, resources) (Nonfiction. 11 & up)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-59078-823-3

Page Count: 168

Publisher: Calkins Creek/Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: April 23, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORY

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THE ANCIENT CITY

LIFE IN CLASSICAL ATHENS AND ROME

by Peter Connolly & Hazel Dodge ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1998

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Strewn with minutely detailed cityscapes, cutaway views, and interiors, this hefty urban study recaptures the architectural glories of two great cities in their heydays, with as much specific information as assignment-driven readers or browsers could want. In a substantial text providing plenty of historical background, aided by a blizzard of sharp, full-color photos of artifacts and classical art, Connolly (Pompeii, 1990) and Dodge examine both cities’ major and minor buildings, from Bronze Age remnants through the aftermath of the Persian War (for Athens) and the great fire of a.d. 64. (for Rome), also describing government, legal systems, religious ceremonies, theater and other public amusements, fashion, daily life for people of all classes, food, water, and waste disposal. More debatable or speculative reconstructions are noted as such. Equally suited to casual readers or serious study, this takes a giant step past the Eyewitness-filled cheap seats and even beyond David Macaulay territory. (maps, diagrams, glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)

Pub Date: May 1, 1998

ISBN: 0-19-521409-9

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Oxford Univ.

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1998

Categories:

GENERAL HISTORY | ANCIENT | CHILDREN'S HISTORY | HISTORY

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MISSISSIPPI RIVER

A JOURNEY DOWN THE FATHER OF WATERS

by Peter Lourie ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2000

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Intrepid explorer Lourie tackles the “Father of Waters,” the Mighty Mississippi, traveling by canoe, bicycle, foot, and car, 2,340 miles from the headwaters of the great river at the Canadian border to the river’s end in the Gulf of Mexico. As with his other “river titles” (Rio Grande, 1999, etc.), he intertwines history, quotes, and period photographs, interviews with people living on and around the river, personal observations, and contemporary photographs of his journey. He touches on the Native Americans—who still harvest wild rice on the Mississippi, and named the river—loggers, steamboats, Civil War battles, and sunken treasure. He stops to talk with a contemporary barge pilot, who tows jumbo-sized tank barges, or 30 barges carrying 45,000 tons of goods up and down and comments: “You think ‘river river river’ night and day for weeks on end.” Lourie describes the working waterway of locks and barges, oil refineries and diesel engines, and the more tranquil areas with heron and alligators, and cypress swamps. A personal travelogue, historical geography, and welcome introduction to the majestic river, past and present. (Nonfiction. 10-14)