An inviting introduction to an amazing place.
Scientific treasure hunts in an inaccessible Central American rainforest yield surprises.
Veteran science writer Markle describes the efforts of two types of expeditions to reveal secrets of La Mosquitia rainforest in Honduras. First, in 2015, documentary filmmaker Steve Elkins led a team deep into this wild, uninhabited world, prompted by persistent legends of a lost city and images on maps he’d commissioned using a technology known as lidar (light detection and ranging). They found boulders that might have been the foundations for buildings as well as statues and stone stools; there was no treasure but also no plastic trash. A year later, a second expedition, led by archaeologist Chris Fisher, one of the team members, found more artifacts; team members’ ensuing health problems ended further efforts. In 2017, a group of 12 scientists from the U.S. nonprofit organization Conservation International, aided by Honduran soldiers, also explored the forest, investigating its ecology and later retrieving camera traps left behind. Throughout this engaging account, photos, mostly from these expeditions and the camera traps, reveal the remarkable finds of these teams, among them a giant carved boulder, a stool with “the carved head of a supernatural-looking jaguar,” and a sculpted vulture. Photographs also document a variety of living plants and animals, including a live jaguar, and emphasize the inaccessibility and density of this “pristine” wilderness. Markle provides clear explanations of the lidar mapping process, the camera traps, and the systematic exploration of the conservation team as well as a smoothly flowing story that carries readers along on these adventures. Team members present as White and Latine.
An inviting introduction to an amazing place. (author’s note, glossary, sources, books and websites, index) (Nonfiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72843-659-3
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Millbrook/Lerner
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both.
Flash, Batman, and other characters from the DC Comics universe tackle supervillains and STEM-related topics and sometimes, both.
Credited to 20 writers and illustrators in various combinations, the 10 episodes invite readers to tag along as Mera and Aquaman visit oceanic zones from epipelagic to hadalpelagic; Supergirl helps a young scholar pick a science-project topic by taking her on a tour of the solar system; and Swamp Thing lends Poison Ivy a hand to describe how DNA works (later joining Swamp Kid to scuttle a climate-altering scheme by Arcane). In other episodes, various costumed creations explain the ins and outs of diverse large- and small-scale phenomena, including electricity, atomic structure, forensic techniques, 3-D printing, and the lactate threshold. Presumably on the supposition that the characters will be more familiar to readers than the science, the minilectures tend to start from simple basics, but the figures are mostly both redrawn to look more childlike than in the comics and identified only in passing. Drawing styles and page designs differ from chapter to chapter but not enough to interrupt overall visual unity and flow—and the cast is sufficiently diverse to include roles for superheroes (and villains) of color like Cyborg, Kid Flash, and the Latina Green Lantern, Jessica Cruz. Appended lists of websites and science-based YouTube channels, plus instructions for homespun activities related to each episode, point inspired STEM-winders toward further discoveries.
Contentwise, an arbitrary assortment…but sure to draw fans of comics, of science, or of both. (Graphic nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-77950-382-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: DC
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care.
In 1977, the oil carrier Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons of oil into a formerly pristine Alaskan ocean inlet, killing millions of birds, animals, and fish. Despite a cleanup, crude oil is still there.
The Winters foretold the destructive powers of the atomic bomb allusively in The Secret Project (2017), leaving the actuality to the backmatter. They make no such accommodations to young audiences in this disturbing book. From the dark front cover, on which oily blobs conceal a seabird, to the rescuer’s sad face on the back, the mother-son team emphasizes the disaster. A relatively easy-to-read and poetically heightened text introduces the situation. Oil is pumped from the Earth “all day long, all night long, / day after day, year after year” in “what had been unspoiled land, home to Native people // and thousands of caribou.” The scale of extraction is huge: There’s “a giant pipeline” leading to “enormous ships.” Then, crash. Rivers of oil gush out over three full-bleed wordless pages. Subsequent scenes show rocks, seabirds, and sea otters covered with oil. Finally, 30 years later, animals have returned to a cheerful scene. “But if you lift a rock… // oil / seeps / up.” For an adult reader, this is heartbreaking. How much more difficult might this be for an animal-loving child?
Like oil itself, this is a book that needs to be handled with special care. (author’s note, further reading) (Informational picture book. 9-12)Pub Date: March 31, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3077-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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