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RETURN FROM EXTINCTION

Name: RETURN FROM EXTINCTION
Author: Linda L. Richards
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2136-1

THE TRIUMPH OF THE ELEPHANT SEAL

From the Orca Wild series

by Linda L. Richards ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 6, 2020

This first effort at natural-history nonfiction endearingly reflects the author’s enthusiasm.

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Once thought to be extinct, northern elephant seals have returned by the thousands to rest and recuperate, breed and give birth on beaches up and down North America’s Pacific coast.

Prompted by her unforgettable first sight of hundreds of elephant seals resting on a beach near San Simeon, California, and learning that these seals had been reported extinct at the end of the 19th century, journalist and novelist Richards tells this “good-news story” as if she were sharing her excited discoveries with a friend. Her narrative is loosely organized into four sections: a physical and social description; a history of the species; what their lives are like over a year that includes two migrations; and, more generally, threats, research, and where readers might see them themselves. Elephant seals, named for the male’s large and mobile nose, are astonishing creatures. They’re really, really big—a male might weigh up to 5,000 pounds. And, they can be really, really loud, louder than a plane taking off. There are plenty of facts, but some seem arbitrarily selected, appear out of the expected context, or are plain wrong (how a fish uses its tail). A nice mix of photographs, many her own, enliven the pages. Each is labeled by source, and most are captioned.

This first effort at natural-history nonfiction endearingly reflects the author’s enthusiasm. (glossary, resources, acknowledgments, index [not seen]) (Nonfiction. 9-14)

Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-4598-2136-1

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Orca

Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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FLASH FACTS

edited by Mayim Bialik ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 2, 2021

Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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ISAAC NEWTON

From the Giants of Science series

by Kathleen Krull & illustrated by Boris Kulikov ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2006

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Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)