The experiences of an impetuous and ambitious American-born Marine serve as a focus for a compelling account of Captain James Cook’s last expedition. Cook was a national hero to the English, exploring, mapping, and claiming vast reaches of the South Seas for the Crown; his final voyage of exploration was meant to discover the fabled Northwest Passage across the top of North America. John Ledyard, feckless, footloose, and impecunious, saw this as his golden opportunity to make his name and fortune. Lawlor (Old Crump: The True Story of a Trip West, p. 337, etc.) powerfully and evocatively puts readers on deck as the expedition languishes in the tropics, moving from island to island as rapacious and syphilitic sailors wear out their welcome among the local populations; finally pushes north to Alaska and Kamchatka; retreats, disastrously, to Hawaii; and at last limps home, minus a murdered Cook. The text is peppered with excerpts from Cook’s journals, as well as those of other sailors and retrospective accounts by Ledyard and others (all rendered with 19th-century grammar and spelling intact), and handsomely illustrated with archival materials. It would be an altogether spectacular piece of writing, were it not for the lack of textual documentation. Over and over, scenes are set and emotions described with no indication of any external authority beyond the author’s own imagination. “Suddenly Cook materialized beside Anderson. The powerful . . . captain thundered an order to the boatswain. Brown eyes blazing, Cook stared into the darkness.” Which witness saw those blazing eyes in the dark? There are even snippets of dialogue recorded without attribution: “ ‘Another island!’ ‘Ice ahead!’ ‘Keep her off a little!’ ‘Steady!’ ” These and other novelistic touches move the narrative along at a terrific clip, but undermine its authority at the same time. A brief essay on sources is followed by a fairly extensive bibliography, but this is no substitute for references not made within the body of the text. This stands as such a powerfully written offering that the lack of documentation is a crying shame. (appendices, glossary, source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2002
ISBN: 0-8234-1575-9
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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