With select poems, revealing passages from letters, and a richly detailed narrative, this thorough study is sure to entice...
A normalizing portrait of one of Western literature’s most enigmatic poets.
Having previously examined the life of Jazz Age poet Edna St. Vincent Millay (A Girl Called Vincent, 2016), Goddu here turns the spotlight on an even larger American literary figure, Emily Dickinson. Known widely for her tight cryptic verses published primarily following her death, Dickinson is often viewed as a sort of "madwoman in the attic," biographers zeroing in on her particular manner of dress and preference, particularly later in life, for staying home and limiting her social interactions. Much of Goddu’s account seeks to redeem that portrayal, focusing on exceptional forces throughout Dickinson’s life that contributed to her artistry. She makes much of Dickinson’s Puritan heritage and education; Dickinson was never at a want for money and, thanks to her father’s prominence as a U.S. Congressman, was at the forefront of Amherst intellectual society. The author makes the compelling case that with Dickinson’s unique talents—including learning to play piano at age 2—frail health, and proclivity for intense relationships with kin and friends, she had little reason to leave the house. Through Dickinson’s love for nature, science, and reading, worlds opened. Archival photographs enhance the telling.
With select poems, revealing passages from letters, and a richly detailed narrative, this thorough study is sure to entice middle-grade readers to explore one of the 19th century’s greatest poets. (timeline, notes, bibliography) (Biography. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-89733-003-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
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
Hot on the heels of the well-received Leonardo da Vinci (2005) comes another agreeably chatty entry in the Giants of Science series. Here the pioneering physicist is revealed as undeniably brilliant, but also cantankerous, mean-spirited, paranoid and possibly depressive. Newton’s youth and annus mirabilis receive respectful treatment, the solitude enforced by family estrangement and then the plague seen as critical to the development of his thoughtful, methodical approach. His subsequent squabbles with the rest of the scientific community—he refrained from publishing one treatise until his rival was dead—further support the image of Newton as a scientific lone wolf. Krull’s colloquial treatment sketches Newton’s advances in clearly understandable terms without bogging the text down with detailed explanations. A final chapter on “His Impact” places him squarely in the pantheon of great thinkers, arguing that both his insistence on the scientific method and his theories of physics have informed all subsequent scientific thought. A bibliography, web site and index round out the volume; the lack of detail on the use of sources is regrettable in an otherwise solid offering for middle-grade students. (Biography. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-05921-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2006
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