Kate Sterling is alone in her house as the great blizzard of 1941 rages around her. Her father, Doc, and her brother Jesse are stranded in their car—snowbound. Zeke Dexter, the convict who killed Kate’s mother, has just gotten out of prison, and is out there somewhere walking in the storm. Kate has dreamed of Zeke’s return and of the revenge she will exact. Wandering blindly and nearly dead, Zeke happens to bump into Doc Sterling’s car, now almost drifted over. And Kate, determined to act, ties a clothesline around her waist, tethers herself to a fence, goes out exploring, and happens to find the car. The convergence of Kate, Zeke, and the worst blizzard in anyone’s memory makes for a good, well-plotted story, in spite of the coincidences that make it all work. Kate’s heroic efforts to save her father and brother result in the unexpected: her mother’s killer stranded in her own house. And when Zeke is injured chopping wood out back, Kate ends up helping nurse him back to health. Kate must come to terms with Zeke as a person and with her hatred as a debilitating emotion. With WWII in the background, the blizzard’s ravages, and the storms in the lives of the characters, this becomes a story about forgiveness and facing up to the forces in one’s life. Kate realizes she can stay true to her mother’s memory, be civil to Zeke, and not be consumed by hatred. A nice addition to this Newbery winner’s body of work. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-85220-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
. Adamson is revered as one of the pioneers of the endangered animal movement; Neimark, though capturing much of Adamson’s milieu and the events of her life, paints her as a talented, but impulsive, moody woman. Growing up in Austria between world wars, Adamson trained as a pianist and as an artist. At 18, while attending a ball, she is carried off by a masked “apache” who declares, “You are mine.” The author burbles: “She felt the strength of his arms and the gritty warmth of his body.” That’s only one instance where the lack of source notes is keenly felt; readers will have to digest some astonishing information unaided. Although her romantic interlude lasts two years, her lover’s identity remains concealed (readers will have to suppose that she knew who he was, even if they don’t); Adamson, pregnant and abandoned, has an abortion, becomes a patient of Sigmund Freud, marries twice, and has two miscarriages before meeting her third husband, George Adamson, a gamekeeper in Kenya, who brings home three orphaned lion cubs. The many anecdotes comprising this biography are interesting, but without citations, leave readers unsettled; what is the possible source for Adamson’s dramatic death scene following a confrontation with a disgruntled ex-employee? “Blood seeped from her, but she felt no regrets. She had always chosen risk over safety. She would not, even now, be victim to fear.” (bibliography, index) (Biography. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201368-7
Page Count: 118
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
This entry in the Milestones in Discovery and Invention series presents clear, if uninspired, stories of medical technology, supplemented by many anecdotes and resource information. Defining medical technology as ``inventions that put science to practical use,'' Yount (Twentieth-Century Women Scientists, 1995, etc.) presents information on the discovery or invention and development of anesthesia, antiseptics, X rays, blood transfusions, artificial and human organ transplants, and medical imaging techniques. Boxed features present useful and intriguing information but classify it too narrowly to be helpful. Another flaw is the often arbitrary inclusion of definitions in the main text, which chops up the discussion. An overview of the world of inventors and medical breakthroughs offers the instructive aspects of competition and ambition and shows the importance of observation and scientific experiment. Yount also treats controversial subjects with intelligence and balance. It's not immediately clear how the book might be used in the curriculum, but there is valuable and fascinating information for researchers here. (b&w photos and diagrams, index, not seen, notes, chronologies, further reading) (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-8160-3568-7
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Facts On File
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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