Authentic detail and a brisk pace make this real-life adventure a page-turner.
A nail-biting account of World War II heroism and survival.
In the summer of 1945, veteran Navy captain Charles McVay undertook a secret mission on the USS Indianapolis. With more than 1,000 inexperienced sailors aboard, the cruiser headed for the island of Tinian, near Guam, delivering parts of the atomic bomb destined to end the war. But with no sonar, the ship’s ability to elude attacks was compromised, and a Japanese submarine torpedoed the Indy, triggering a deadly fire. The men were forced to abandon ship, and most found themselves in one of two groups—one led by clergyman Father Conway and physician Dr. Haynes, the other by Ensign Harlan Twible and Chief Engineer Richard Redmayne. McVay was in a separate small group with eight other crew members. There was a scramble for rafts and danger from shark attacks; the men battled hunger, thirst, exposure to the tropical sun, and extreme cold at night. Many perished. Stanton and Tougias keep the suspense high with short sections that cut from one embattled group to another. Rescue eventually came but not without glitches, and McVay faced a different fight for survival back home—court-martialed and later dying by suicide. This is a riveting, well-researched young readers’ adaptation of Stanton’s 2001 original.
Authentic detail and a brisk pace make this real-life adventure a page-turner. (map, note by Stanton, glossary, books by Tougias, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-77132-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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
An extraordinary tale of sisterhood and survival, told with simplicity.
A true story of two sisters—one Deaf and one hearing—and how they endured a perilous childhood in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II.
Herta Myers, 8, and Renee, 10, are sisters living in Bratislava, the capital of what was then Czechoslovakia, during World War II. Renee is her family’s ears, as Herta and both of their parents are Deaf. They all communicate using sign language. Renee becomes so good at recognizing the sound of soldiers’ boots outside the window that she can warn her family of any danger. With narration traded between the girls, readers learn that the sisters are hidden on a farm with a couple who are also Deaf. Eventually, separated from their parents, the sisters’ journey leads them to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp, where their collective resolve is endlessly tested. This is a compelling story, exploring the role that senses play when one is in danger as well as presenting the candid recollections of everyday details of two children navigating appalling conditions during wartime. It is, however, a lot to process for kids who are as young as Herta and Renee were at the time of their most traumatic experiences. In the epilogue, co-author Greene reveals that this book is largely a compilation and interweaving of the transcripts of interviews that these two sisters gave to the Fortunoff Video Archive for Holocaust Testimonies at Yale University.
An extraordinary tale of sisterhood and survival, told with simplicity. (poem, photographs) (Memoir. 10-14)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-75335-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2021
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