A fascinating blend of social and environmental history and engineering.
An extensively researched exploration into the people, the river, and the economics behind the creation of Hoover Dam.
Completed in 1936, Hoover Dam was heralded as a human victory over the wild Colorado River, providing water and electricity for millions, including the residents of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and other cities. Less than a century later, climate change, combined with increased demands for water, have depleted the once seemingly endless river. Primary sources and quotations from several oral history projects put readers in the boots of some of the more than 20,000 men who worked in dangerous conditions and sweltering heat to complete this feat, made possible by cutting-edge technology and clever engineering. The absorbing chronological narrative follows the construction of the dam, delving into the social, economic, political, and cultural issues that propelled the project forward. Visual aids add immediacy, including maps, construction plans, advertisements, and black-and-white photos showing the vast scope of the project, the powerful white men in charge, the workers and their families, and the devastating environmental consequences. The impacts on Indigenous and Black people are mentioned—for example, exclusion from compensation for land taken, destruction of sites and artifacts, forced labor, and unequal wages and work conditions. The inclusion of many exact measurements provides insight into the enormity of the project but at times overwhelms the narrative.
A fascinating blend of social and environmental history and engineering. (timeline, dams on the Colorado River, notes, sources, picture credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780316380744
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
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
A refreshed version of a classic that doesn’t hold up to more recent works.
A new edition of late author Zinn’s 2007 work, which was adapted for young readers by Stefoff and based on Zinn’s groundbreaking 1980 original for adults.
This updated version, also adapted by Stefoff, a writer for children and teens, contains new material by journalist Morales. The work opens with the arrival of Christopher Columbus and concludes with a chapter by Morales on social and political issues from 2006 through the election of President Joe Biden seen through the lens of Latinx identity. Zinn’s work famously takes a radically different perspective from that of most mainstream history books, viewing conflicts as driven by rich people taking advantage of poorer ones. Zinn professed his own point of view as being “critical of war, racism, and economic injustice,” an approach that felt fresh among popular works of the time. Unfortunately, despite upgrades that include Morales’ perspective, “a couple of insights into Native American history,” and “a look at the Asian American activism that flourished alongside other social movements in the 1960s and 1970s,” the book feels dated. It entirely lacks footnotes, endnotes, or references, so readers cannot verify facts or further investigate material, and the black-and-white images lack credits. Although the work seeks to be inclusive, readers may wonder about the omission of many subjects relating to race, gender, and sexuality, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, Indian boarding schools, the Tulsa Race Massacre, Loving v. Virginia, the Stonewall Uprising, Roe v. Wade, Title IX, the AIDS crisis, and the struggle for marriage equality.
A refreshed version of a classic that doesn’t hold up to more recent works. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781644212516
Page Count: 544
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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