A compelling, well-researched account.
Ample details and a well-researched backstory paint a picture of a pivotal court case that’s both surprising and familiar.
A century before social concepts like the frequently misunderstood critical race theory made their way into mainstream discourse—before an unprecedented rise in hostile takeovers of library and school boards aimed at book censorship—Charles Darwin’s scientifically sound theory of evolution was a hot-button issue. Using extensive research and primary source material to great effect, Levy takes readers on a deep dive into the Scopes trial of 1925, a lawsuit designed to push back against the recently enacted House Bill 185, aka the Butler Act, prohibiting “any instruction ‘that man has descended from a lower order of animals’” in Tennessee public schools. This account jumps through time, from the trial itself to the origins of Darwin’s work and the background and history of the trial’s major players, providing insight into their principles and motivations. The author calls out historical racism and atrocities, including white supremacy and eugenics embedded in concepts such as “survival of the fittest” (which she emphasizes is a phrase that Darwin didn’t coin), juxtaposing them against the moral outrage over the concept of evolution. Though occasionally overly dense with detail and background information, this meticulous work is generally well written and accessible. Moments of clarity around the weight and importance of this trial bring home its implications for the modern U.S. educational system.
A compelling, well-researched account. (timeline, source notes, selected bibliography, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 14, 2025
ISBN: 9781547612215
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2024
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality.
An examination of the history of Chinese American experiences.
Blackburn opens with a note to readers about growing up feeling invisible as a multicultural, biracial Chinese American. She notes the tremendous diversity of Chinese American history and writes that this book is a starting point for learning more. The evenly paced narrative starts with the earliest recorded arrival of the Chinese in America in 1834. A teenage girl, whose real name is unknown, arrived in New York Harbor with the Carnes brothers, merchants who imported Chinese goods and put her on display “like an animal in a circus.” The author then examines shifting laws, U.S. and global political and economic climates, and changing societal attitudes. The book introduces the highlighted people—including Yee Ah Tye, Wong Kim Ark, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Vincent Chen—in relation to lawsuits or other transformative events; they also stand as examples for explaining concepts such as racial hierarchy and the model minority myth. Maps, photos, and documents are interspersed throughout. Chapters close with questions that encourage readers to think critically about systems of oppression, actively engage with the material, and draw connections to their own lives. Although the book covers a wide span of history, from the Gold Rush to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the Covid-19 pandemic, it thoroughly explains the various events. Blackburn doesn’t shy away from describing terrible setbacks, but she balances them with examples of solidarity and progress.
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality. (resources, bibliography, image credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567630
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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