Unvarnished prose, plentiful images and vivid anecdotes set in historical perspective make this chronological account lively...
Even readers without Girl Scout credentials can appreciate this competent, photo-laden biography of fearless, feisty founder, Juliette Gordon Low.
Using letters, diaries, news articles and other memorabilia, Wadsworth (Camping with the President, 2009, etc.) creates a candid portrait. Despite Low’s hearing loss and lack of skill at spelling, driving, balancing her checkbook and being on time, her visionary, charismatic and tenacious leadership clearly fueled the rapid growth of the Girl Scouts in the United States. Low's memories of her idyllic childhood summers outdoors, the emotional impact of her failed marriage and her impressive social access all converged to one end: her missionary zeal for bringing an even more ground-breaking, skill-building and career-oriented version of the British Girl Guides movement to America. On the eve of the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts, Wadsworth can be forgiven the mild promotional element of the final chapter. Once a Girl Scout herself, the author reveals that Low was even buried in her Girl Scout uniform, with a telegram from a dear friend in the pocket that read: “You are not only the first Girl Scout but the best Girl Scout of them all.” Readers will be hard-pressed to disagree.
Unvarnished prose, plentiful images and vivid anecdotes set in historical perspective make this chronological account lively and accessible for middle-grade readers. (author’s note, chronology, source notes, bibliography, words and music) (Biography. 9-12)Pub Date: Nov. 14, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-24394-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
In no particular order and using no set criteria for his selections, veteran sportscaster Berman pays tribute to an arbitrary gallery of baseball stars—all familiar names and, except for the Yankees’ Alex Rodriguez, retired from play for decades. Repeatedly taking the stance that statistics are just numbers but then reeling off batting averages, home-run totals, wins (for pitchers) and other data as evidence of greatness, he offers career highlights in a folksy narrative surrounded by photos, side comments and baseball-card–style notes in side boxes. Readers had best come to this with some prior knowledge, since he casually drops terms like “slugging percentage,” “dead ball era” and “barnstorming” without explanation and also presents a notably superficial picture of baseball’s history—placing the sport’s “first half-century” almost entirely in the 1900s, for instance, and condescendingly noting that Jackie Robinson’s skill led Branch Rickey to decide that he “was worthy of becoming the first black player to play in the majors.” The awesome feats of Ruth, Mantle, the Gibsons Bob and Josh, Hank Aaron, Ty Cobb and the rest are always worth a recap—but this one’s strictly minor league. (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4022-3886-4
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
A spirited biography untangles the accretion of myth and story around Pocahontas and makes clear what little is actually known and what fragments of the historical record are available. The text is rich in illustration and in sidebars (on longhouses, colonial diet, weaponry and so on) that illuminate the central narrative. Whether Pocahontas saved John Smith’s life directly or as part of an elaborate ritual might not matter, argues Jones. Pocahontas and her people were certainly responsible for keeping the English settlement of Jamestown from starvation. Relations between English settlers and Native people were uneasy at best, and the author traces these carefully, relating how Pocahontas was later kidnapped by the British and held for ransom. When none was forthcoming, she was converted both to English ways and the Christian religion, marrying the widower John Rolfe and traveling to England, where Pocahontas saw John Smith once again and died at about the age of 21. An excellent stab at myth busting and capturing the nuances of both the figure and her times. (glossary, bibliography, source notes, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-6844-6
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
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