A valuable and fascinating resource, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama.
Two Tibetans, 19-year-old Pasang and his 11-year-old brother, Tenzin, flee Tibet, a harrowing escape that includes hiking—in street clothes and worn sneakers—over the 19,000-foot-high “Death Pass” of the Himalayas.
Pasang had already left Chinese-run Tibet once, becoming a novice Buddhist monk in India, returning home to help his brother seek a better life. The pair travels by train cross-country to Lhasa, where they spend several weeks evading Chinese police and amassing a nest egg by begging. A first attempt to cross a bridge to Nepal leads to capture and torture by Chinese border guards. That makes the frigid, perilous journey over the world’s highest mountains seem like a safer alternative, but their suffering is intense, and even their eventual safe arrival in Nepal doesn’t appear to guarantee the refugee status that will allow them to remain. During their flight, part of their journey is filmed by a British team and later made into a documentary; co-author Gray is the filmmaker. Although this collaboration includes dialogue that can only be surmised, Pasang and Tenzin subsequently “shared…extensive descriptions of their experiences and feelings” with Gray, which grounds the account. The graphic depiction of their experiences is so riveting that it reads like fiction, making the photographic insert a jarring reminder of reality.
A valuable and fascinating resource, with a foreword by the Dalai Lama. (glossary, timeline of Tibet, history of Chinese-Tibetan relations, history of Buddhism in Tibet) (Nonfiction. 11-16)Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-55451-663-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
Attractively designed and handsomely illustrated, this informative text introduces teens to many intriguing angles on a...
Will the world end in a bang or a whimper? Unless pre-empted by human-induced disaster or one of many scientifically possible catastrophic scenarios, life on Earth will end a billion years from now in a sizzle.
Predicting the end of the world is an old story, argues the author, presenting evidence in brief surveys of eschatologies from the world's major religions and mythologies of ancient civilizations. Miller also notes how end-of-world scenarios have captured humanity's imagination in their frequent appearances in science-fiction novels and motion pictures. (Disappointingly, the reasons for this ongoing fascination are not explored.) A chapter about imminent predictions for 2012 explains the Mayan prophecy and a theory about a phantom planet called Nibiru crashing into Earth. Another chapter examines pseudoscientific end-of-world theories such as planetary alignment and pole shifts. The primary focus is on scientifically plausible scenarios: self-destruction through nuclear war or continued environmental exploitation; humanity wiped out by a pandemic; an asteroid or comet strike destroying Earth.
Attractively designed and handsomely illustrated, this informative text introduces teens to many intriguing angles on a high-interest topic that should inspire many to further explore the subject. (chronology, glossary, bibliography, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7613-7396-4
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
Cogent and stirring, this very readable book focuses on the Jim Crow era, that period between 1896 and 1954, a shameful time in U.S. history framed by two landmark Supreme Court cases.
From the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court sanctioned “separate but equal,” until Brown v. Board of Education, a case that found school segregation unconstitutional, African-Americans, even post-slavery, were subjected to injustice, brutality, humiliation and discrimination in education, housing, employment and government and military service. Osborne expertly guides readers through this painful, turbulent time of segregation, enabling them to understand fully the victims’ struggles and triumphs as they worked courageously to set things right. The seamless narrative benefits from handsome design: Accompanying the author’s excellent text, which is illuminated by many quotes, are superb contemporary photos, set into the text, scrapbook-style, and other primary-source documents from the archives of the Library of Congress. The visuals and captions add much to readers’ comprehension of the period, the difficulties African-Americans endured and their hard-won victories. Readers will come away moved, saddened, troubled by this stain on their country’s past and filled with abiding respect for those who fought and overcame. (timeline, notes, bibliography, note on sources) (Nonfiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0020-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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