Well-documented, with sidebars on Alcott, Darwin, public health, child labor, and more, Furstinger’s lively narrative fills...
Furstinger examines the life of 19th-century animal rights champion Henry Bergh.
Born an heir to a New York shipbuilder’s fortune in 1813, Bergh left college, traveled, and dabbled unsuccessfully as a writer. In 1863, he served in a diplomatic post in Russia. After stopping a carriage horse’s merciless beating, Bergh seemingly experienced “an epiphany when he discovered that his words really could have power to halt cruelty.” Resigning his post in 1865, Bergh met the president of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in London and returned to New York, his life’s passion finally ignited. Furstinger follows Bergh’s 22-year career as he founded the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in 1866 and enforced New York state’s new anti-cruelty law, arresting and prosecuting many. The author unflinchingly describes the misery of 19th-century urban domestic animals: horses literally worked to death pulling streetcars, dogs forced to fight to death for sport, cows fed an alcoholic distillery mash that poisoned them, their milk, and the infants who drank it. Bergh was celebrated and derided, and his tireless work for animals got a shake-up in 1874, when he founded the world’s first child protection agency. Desjardins’ digital illustrations, grim yet oddly fanciful, seem misplaced here.
Well-documented, with sidebars on Alcott, Darwin, public health, child labor, and more, Furstinger’s lively narrative fills a void. (maps, period photographs, author’s note, timeline, quotation notes, bibliography, website) (Biography. 9-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-65031-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing.
In this graphic memoir by sports journalist Shah, a ninth grader pursues his passion in the face of familial expectations pushing him toward a medical career, while also navigating the perils of high school social life.
It’s 1995, and Indian American Amar is desperate to meet the Chicago Bulls—Michael Jordan, in particular—when they stop by his Orlando, Florida, school. A lucky break leads him to his first sports interview, with Phil Jackson, and his tenacity takes him further, leading to multiple conversations with Shaquille O’Neal. But Amar’s luck in journalism doesn’t spill over to his relationship with his crush, blond Kasey Page (“like a mixture of Cameron Diaz, Tinkerbell, and heaven”), or his efforts to remain close with best friends Rohit and Cherian, who start spending more time with other classmates. The work relies on captions as much as plot developments to propel the story. It also follows a broad cast of characters—close and former friends, antagonists, supportive adults, and famous athletes—who appear in multiple storylines. The story accurately depicts the complexities of life as a young teen, though overlapping life challenges pull it in multiple directions, leaving some threads underexplored and hastily wrapped up. Doucet illustrates the characters using loose, disjointed outlines that give the artwork a sense of movement, and the colorful backgrounds use patterns and action lines to indicate a wide array of emotions.
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing. (author’s note, photographs) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781546110514
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
“In 1875 there were perhaps fifty million of them. Just twenty-five years later nearly every one of them was gone.” The author of many nonfiction books for young people (Bridges; Truck; Giants of the Highways, etc.) tells the story of the American bison, from prehistory, when Bison latifrons walked North America along with the dinosaurs, to the recent past when the Sioux and other plains Indians hunted the familiar bison. Robbins uses historic photographs, etchings, and paintings to show their sad history. To the Native Americans of the plains, the buffalo was central to their way of life. Arriving Europeans, however, hunted for sport, slaughtering thousands for their hides, or to clear the land for the railroad, or farmers. One telling photo shows a man atop a mountain of buffalo skulls. At the very last moment, enough individuals “came to their senses,” and worked to protect the remaining few. Thanks to their efforts, this animal is no longer endangered, but the author sounds a somber note as he concludes: “the millions are gone, and they will never come back.” A familiar story, well-told, and enhanced by the many well-chosen period photographs. (photo credits) (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83025-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2000
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