Readers curious about the ins and outs of scientific discovery will be intrigued.
A groundbreaking—and ice-breaking—13-month exploration of the Arctic.
From 2019 to 2020, the German research ship Polarstern used Norwegian scientist and explorer Fridtjof Nansen’s 19th-century discovery of sea ice drift to travel from Norway to the Fram Strait off Greenland. Allowed to freeze in the ice, the ship drifted along with the floe before finally breaking north through the ice to the pole. International teams traded off every two or three months. The expedition, aptly named MOSAIC (Multidisciplinary drifting Observatory for the Study of Arctic Climate), produced countless discoveries about this largely unknown region. The author, an expedition member, offers her account in bits and pieces. She explains their rationale: The Arctic is “the epicenter of climate change,” and what happens here affects the rest of the planet. She describes the overall plan and provides historical background, focusing particularly on Nansen’s trip in 1893. Weiss-Tuider discusses their climate research: investigating the ice, the atmosphere, the ocean underneath the ice cap, and “biogeochemistry.” All this is presented through a lengthy, smooth, liberally illustrated text, translated from German. The lively design includes maps, labeled drawings, logbook notes, photographs big and small, even sticky notes. An enormous amount of information is packed in, though the author doesn’t share much about the personal impact of being part of such an important expedition. People depicted in illustrations are diverse.
Readers curious about the ins and outs of scientific discovery will be intrigued. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: May 23, 2023
ISBN: 9781771649568
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
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
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.
Flash, Batman, and other characters from the DC Comics universe tackle supervillains and STEM-related topics and sometimes, both.
Credited to 20 writers and illustrators in various combinations, the 10 episodes invite readers to tag along as Mera and Aquaman visit oceanic zones from epipelagic to hadalpelagic; Supergirl helps a young scholar pick a science-project topic by taking her on a tour of the solar system; and Swamp Thing lends Poison Ivy a hand to describe how DNA works (later joining Swamp Kid to scuttle a climate-altering scheme by Arcane). In other episodes, various costumed creations explain the ins and outs of diverse large- and small-scale phenomena, including electricity, atomic structure, forensic techniques, 3-D printing, and the lactate threshold. Presumably on the supposition that the characters will be more familiar to readers than the science, the minilectures tend to start from simple basics, but the figures are mostly both redrawn to look more childlike than in the comics and identified only in passing. Drawing styles and page designs differ from chapter to chapter but not enough to interrupt overall visual unity and flow—and the cast is sufficiently diverse to include roles for superheroes (and villains) of color like Cyborg, Kid Flash, and the Latina Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. Appended lists of websites and science-based YouTube channels, plus instructions for homespun activities related to each episode, point inspired STEM-winders toward further discoveries.
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-382-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
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