MacLeod (Lucy Maud Montgomery, 2001, etc.) covers a lot of ground in this brief biography of Albert Einstein: school, early career in a Swiss patent office, early days as a professor in Bern, becoming friends with Marie Curie, choosing work over family, WWII and the move to Princeton, New Jersey, and the post-war years as a citizen of the world. Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity is described as “the first really new thing about the force of gravity since Newton’s original ideas 250 years earlier,” and the author does an excellent job of describing the theory for a young audience. Einstein’s legacy is explained in clear, specific terms: the discovery of pulsars and black holes, the big bang theory, and the development of nuclear power, radiation therapy, lasers, fluorescent lights, and automatic doors. Beyond its exposition of Einstein’s work, this is an ode to hard work, imagination, and creative thinking. Included are the difficult moral decisions of Einstein’s life, especially the letter he wrote to FDR that led to the Manhattan project, which Einstein later called “the greatest mistake of my life.” The lively mix of text, sidebars, photographs, newspaper excerpts, equations, and Einstein’s handwritten notes adds up to a format inviting browsing and offering much information to closer readers. A cartoon of Albert on each spread presents additional information in speech bubbles and adds a touch of levity to what could have been a heavy text. Though no bibliography is included, John B. Severance’s Einstein: Visionary Scientist would make a good companion. A useful addition to collections for young readers. (timeline, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2003
ISBN: 1-55337-396-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2003
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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