A searching, scorching study of a complex character, trimmed but still weighed down by too much minor detail.
A meticulous account of the rise and fall of a brilliant scientist.
Though only around half the page length of the prize-winning American Prometheus (2005), the inspiration for the 2023 film, this bulky adaptation for young people still bulges with finely chopped details. The authors cover Oppenheimer’s life, from houses and horses to the kangaroo court government hearing that led to his instant downfall from “America’s darling physicist” to “the most prominent victim of the McCarthy era.” Disappointingly, readers willing to stay the course won’t find the original’s probing study of the scientific breakthroughs and engineering miracles that Oppenheimer presided over as director of the Manhattan Project, which engendered the first nuclear weapons. What still emerges very clearly is how the conflict between his deep moral sensibility and his equally profound love for scientific truth and the country that betrayed him made him a tragic hero in the classic vein. The major figures are white, but the authors properly acknowledge the government’s cavalier displacement of Latine farmers around Los Alamos and the Micronesian residents of the Bikini Atoll, along with the relentless toll radioactive dust has taken on these communities. The authors also repeatedly note that Japanese leaders were maneuvering toward surrender even as the U.S. government killed hundreds of thousands of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
A searching, scorching study of a complex character, trimmed but still weighed down by too much minor detail. (note from Sherwin, adapter’s note, list of historical figures, endnotes, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 11-16)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9780593856451
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
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)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 1-56397-756-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
If Freedman wrote the history textbooks, we would have many more historians. Beginning with an engrossing description of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he brings the reader the lives of the American colonists and the events leading up to the break with England. The narrative approach to history reads like a good story, yet Freedman tucks in the data that give depth to it. The inclusion of all the people who lived during those times and the roles they played, whether small or large are acknowledged with dignity. The story moves backwards from the Boston Tea Party to the beginning of the European settlement of what they called the New World, and then proceeds chronologically to the signing of the Declaration. “Your Rights and Mine” traces the influence of the document from its inception to the present ending with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The full text of the Declaration and a reproduction of the original are included. A chronology of events and an index are helpful to the young researcher. Another interesting feature is “Visiting the Declaration of Independence.” It contains a short review of what happened to the document in the years after it was written, a useful Web site, and a description of how it is displayed and protected today at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Illustrations from the period add interest and detail. An excellent addition to the American history collection and an engrossing read. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1448-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
© Copyright 2025 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.
