The heroic events that began the Communist era in China are recounted by a favorite author (herself born in China) who has written a distinguished list of books on American history for children. Basing her anecdotal saga on interviews with a dozen of the remaining 600 survivors of the March as well as on books included in an extensive bibliography, Fritz uses authentic details to make the hardships and triumphs immediate and personal: a bridge anchored by an instant innovation born of necessity—bamboo baskets weighted with stones; Mao, too sick to walk, writing a letter for a homesick, illiterate soldier; a whole army disguised as the enemy Nationalists, marching along one side of a river while the real Nationalists kept pace on the other. Fritz makes vivid the poverty and despair provoked by grasping landlords that gave this army, largely made up of peasants, such dogged perseverance. The epic crossing of the high mountains on the borders of Tibet and the treacherous, trackless "Grasslands" make an inspirational story worthy of the place it still holds in the Chinese imagination. The account concludes with a brief summary of subsequent history: the alliance with the Nationalists to drive out the Japanese, the postwar accession to power and the successes of the Communist regime, the tragedy of the Cultural Revolution. This vivid account should go a long way towards making a radically different, vitally important country more comprehensive to American children; it belongs in every library.
Pub Date: Feb. 29, 1988
ISBN: 0399215123
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1988
A delightfully captivating swatch of autobiography from the author of Kiss. Kiss, Switch Bitch and many others. Schoolboy Dahl wanted adventure. Classes bored him, there was work to be had in Africa, and war clouds loomed on the world's horizons. He finds himself with a trainee's job with Shell Oil of East Africa and winds up in what is now Tanzania. Then war comes in 1939 and Dahl's adventures truly begin. At the war's outbreak, Dahl volunteers for the RAF, signing on to be a fighter pilot. Wounded in the Libyan desert, he spends six months recuperating in a military hospital, then rejoins his unit in Greece, only to be driven back by the advancing Germans. On April 20, 1941, he goes head on against the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Athens. On-target bio installment with, one hopes, lots more of this engrossing life to come.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0142413836
Page Count: 209
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1986
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
