Just like Times Square itself, the pages are filled to the brim.
An unexpected history of a very famous intersection.
Millions of people begin each new year mesmerized by the ball drop atop One Times Square. But before all the glitz and flashing lights, Times Square was filled with carriages, livery stables and coal yards. It is a stark contrast that’s difficult to imagine. McKendry (Beneath the Streets of Boston: Building America’s First Subway, 2005) takes readers on a journey through 100 years of shifts and changes to this well-known New York City landscape. Beginning in 1904 when the New York Times headquarters was built and forever changed the name of this small plot of land, McKendry accompanies the text with a spectacular painting of the Square from a specific point of view. This same perspective is used repeatedly throughout the narrative, simultaneously grounding readers and letting them watch in awe as buildings and technology sprout and change. Interspersed with the Square’s history—during both thriving years and sordid ones—are fascinating tidbits such as the inner workings of billboards, the arrival of the Motograph News Bulletin (or the “Zipper”) and, of course, the exact number of light bulbs found in the 2000 Millennium ball. Cross sections, diagrams and stunning double-page spreads show how these few tiny streets have changed in very large ways.
Just like Times Square itself, the pages are filled to the brim. (sources) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-56792-364-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Godine
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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
An extraordinary tale of sisterhood and survival, told with simplicity.
A true story of two sisters—one Deaf and one hearing—and how they endured a perilous childhood in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II.
Herta Myers, 8, and Renee, 10, are sisters living in Bratislava, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia, during World War II. Renee is her family’s ears, as Herta and both of their parents are Deaf. They all communicate using sign language. Renee becomes so good at recognizing the sound of soldiers’ boots outside the window that she can warn her family of any danger. With narration traded between the girls, readers learn that the sisters are hidden on a farm with a couple who are also Deaf. Eventually, separated from their parents, the sisters’ journey leads them to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where their collective resolve is endlessly tested. This is a compelling story, exploring the role that senses play when one is in danger as well as presenting the candid recollections of everyday details of two children navigating appalling conditions during wartime. It is, however, a lot to process for kids who are as young as Herta and Renee were at the time of their most traumatic experiences. In the epilogue, co-author Greene reveals that this book is largely a compilation and interweaving of the transcripts of interviews that these two sisters gave to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University.
An extraordinary tale of sisterhood and survival, told with simplicity. (poem, photographs) (Memoir. 10-14)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-75335-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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