Dog lovers and budding military historians alike should find this canine perspective on the Great War an absorbing read.
In a story that reads like fiction, a remarkable bond between a soldier and his dog provides a unique look at World War I.
Stubby, a mixed-breed dog so named due to his stump of a tail, hung around the Army reservists training at Yale in 1917. Many of them reacted favorably to the dog, but none more than James Robert Conroy, who smuggled the animal onto the ship to France. Stubby even managed to charm the commanding officer, who allowed the dog to stay, not the last to fall under his spell. He became a working dog, hunting rats that plagued the trenches, among other duties. He even suffered an injury that necessitated a stint in the Army hospital—where he went to work boosting patients’ morale. Once back in action, he proved invaluable in finding enemy wounded and managing prisoners of war. He was even credited with capturing a German soldier. At war’s end, Stubby returned home with Conroy with honors, no longer a stowaway. Bausum successfully weaves Stubby’s astonishing story together with information about the war and reveals how connections between people and animals brought an element of humanity into the difficulties of war. Conroy maintained a scrapbook about Stubby, so the text is enlivened with period photographs, including those of Stubby in his uniform.
Dog lovers and budding military historians alike should find this canine perspective on the Great War an absorbing read. (timeline, research notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 13, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4263-14865
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
A tragic, gripping, and inspiring story.
In 1979, 11-year-old Norman was the only survivor of a plane crash in Southern California: This is his true story.
This book for middle-grade readers, co-authored with Kiely, covers much of the same material as Ollestad’s 2009 memoir for adults, Crazy for the Storm. Flying in a four-seater Cessna with his father, his father’s girlfriend, Sandra, and the pilot, Norman was excited to reach Big Bear to receive his ski-racing trophy. (As a vivid example of his busy childhood, they’d driven the 300 miles there yesterday for Norman to compete—and then driven back to Topanga Canyon in the evening for his hockey game.) But the plane tragically crashed on a mountain in a blizzard. Nothing is sugarcoated; readers encounter graphic descriptions of the pilot and Norman’s dad, who died, and Sandra, who suffered a gaping head wound. Eventually accepting that he had to figure things out on his own, Norman drew upon the extreme training his father had put his “Boy Wonder” through—training that had bullied Norman into facing difficult physical and mental challenges that he feared and resented. During his trek to safety, Norman performed incredible mental and physical feats and encouraged the barely functioning Sandra—until she fell to her death. Norman’s conflicted feelings about the father he’d both idolized and resented are nuanced and satisfyingly resolved. Readers who enjoy nail-biting wilderness stories will be riveted.
A tragic, gripping, and inspiring story. (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2025
ISBN: 9780374392611
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
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