A lavishly illustrated picture book joins archival material, diagrams, and original paintings to tell the story of how the Wright brothers invented the airplane. The text briefly covers their lives before Kitty Hawk, focusing narrowly on the period from 1899 to 1903 as they experimented and refined their designs in pursuit of a self-propelled flying machine. The sprightly, lucid text takes the brothers back and forth from their Dayton, Ohio, bicycle shop to Kitty Hawk, quoting from their letters and from the recollections of witnesses to give a terrific sense of immediacy. Sidebars and diagrams explain the various innovations the brothers tried: from the wing and rudder controls on the actual Flyers to the wind tunnel they built in their workshop to test aerodynamics. One further chapter and an epilogue detail the brothers’ activities subsequent to that history-making flight: their efforts to patent and market their invention and the founding of the Wright Company, which designed aircraft for both military and civilian uses. Busby’s text, his first for children, deftly combines technical detail with narrative thrust; Jack McMaster’s diagrams complement the technical descriptions beautifully, while Craig’s (Attack on Pearl Harbor, not reviewed) lush oils add dramatic flair. One significant flaw is that many of the primary sources are quoted blind, with no indication in the text or back matter where the observations came from (a stellar exception to this is the citation of Orville’s letters home from Kitty Hawk). Two pages of back matter provide a chronology, select glossary, bibliography (which includes books for younger and older readers as well as Web sites), picture credits, and index. (Picture book/nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 11, 2003
ISBN: 0-375-81287-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2002
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A deceptively simple, tender tale in which respect, resilience, and hope triumph.
Generations of human and animal families grow and change, seen from the point of view of the red oak Wishing Tree that shelters them all.
Most trees are introverts at heart. So says Red, who is over 200 years old and should know. Not to mention that they have complicated relationships with humans. But this tree also has perspective on its animal friends and people who live within its purview—not just witnessing, but ultimately telling the tales of young people coming to this country alone or with family. An Irish woman named Maeve is the first, and a young 10-year-old Muslim girl named Samar is the most recent. Red becomes the repository for generations of wishes; this includes both observing Samar’s longing wish and sporting the hurtful word that another young person carves into their bark as a protest to Samar’s family’s presence. (Red is monoecious, they explain, with both male and female flowers.) Newbery medalist Applegate succeeds at interweaving an immigrant story with an animated natural world and having it all make sense. As Red observes, animals compete for resources just as humans do, and nature is not always pretty or fair or kind. This swiftly moving yet contemplative read is great for early middle grade, reluctant or tentative readers, or precocious younger students.
A deceptively simple, tender tale in which respect, resilience, and hope triumph. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-250-04322-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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