Book Review - Bomb: the race to build - and steal- the world’s most dangerous weapon
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Sheinkin, Steve. 2012. Bomb: the race to build - and steal- the world’s most dangerous
weapon.New York, NY: Flash Point, an imprint of Roaring Brook Press. ISBN 978-1-59643-487-5
PLOT SUMMARY
Bomb is a nonfiction encounter of the science and history behind the events that lead to the creation of the first atomic bomb. Sheinkin carefully structures the story that is packed with historical and scientific information weaved into the personal encounters of spies, scientists, and other key players in the events. From the experiences of physics professor, Robert Oppenheimer, who lead the United States’s team of scientists in the mission of creating a bomb to the memories of Harry Gold, a seemingly normal guy who was leading a double life as a spy for the Soviet Union, the reader is lead through a thrilling page turner that is highly educational.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Sheinkin presents events from history in a way that reads like a favorite novel. By interlacing the scientific and historical facts with dialogue from the key players, he lures the reader into the intriguing details for the events. The book is rich in researched facts, as supported by the lengthy and detailed source and quotation notes, but the information takes on new life through the presentation that is driven by the human factor. The experiences and memories of spies, soldiers, scientists, and even the president, present the information in a way that makes the reader feel as though they are watching an entertaining film. Sheinkin’s method of breaking down each chapter into subsections that feature different events from different perspectives, keeps the reader wanting more. Even a person who is familiar with many of the events would be intrigued by this book due to the many details that are included. By telling the story this way, Sheinkin almost recreates the experience so that the reader feels as though they are in that time in history, living the events. This is an amazing resource for teachers to use with their students because it is so much more than just a retelling of historical events. It has the power to truly ignite real interest in this topic and historical time period in a way that will encourage true learning.
For additional interest, historical pictures are included at the beginning of each of the four parts of the book. These black and white photos include pictures of the people who are featured in that section of the books as well as places and items that are featured.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred Horn Book Review: “Sheinkin here maintains the pace of a thriller without betraying history (source notes and an annotated bibliography are exemplary) or skipping over the science…”
Starred Kirkus Book Review: “A superb tale of an era and an effort that forever changed our world.”
CONNECTIONS
History teachers could assign the book as an outside reading assignment to accompany a unit over the time period.
English teachers could use the book in conjunction with Night to show another angle of activity that was happening during World War II.
Related Books:
Hersey, John. 1985. Hiroshima. New York, NY: Random House, Inc. ISBN 0-679-72103-7
Rhodes, Richard. 1986. The making of the atomic bomb. New York, NY: Simon &
Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-7761-4
Book Review - Our Eleanor: a scrapbook look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Fleming, Candace. 2005. Our Eleanor: a scrapbook look at Eleanor Roosevelt’s remarkable life.
New York, NY: Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division. ISBN
978-0-689-86544-2
PLOT SUMMARY
Our Eleanor is a great reference resources all about the life of Eleanor Roosevelt. The book contains stories and bits of personal information about Roosevelt from her birth in 1884 until her death in 1962.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Fleming presents a thorough collection of information about the life of Eleanor Roosevelt that is enjoyable to explore. The book begins with a timeline which contains over 50 important events in Roosevelt’s life followed by a detailed family tree. In the back of the book, a reader can find a section of recommended sources for more information about Eleanor Roosevelt, a section of credits for the pictures used in the book, and a lengthy section of source notes for the book. There is also an index to assist in the research process. The style of the book is what makes it particularly simple to maneuver and makes it a good resource for children. The information is presented in a scrapbook style with short blurbs and captions to go along with photos of the events or artifacts to accompany the information. Each page is laid out in a unique format with graphics breaking up different sections of information. Different font faces, sizes and textual spacing also add to the scrapbook feel of the book. Fleming takes care to highlight very personal tidbits and stories about Roosevelt such as her admission to lying as a child to a prayer that Roosevelt carried in her purse during the war. These little details give the reader an up-close encounter with the woman. The book is organized with many large headlines that make it easy to browse for particular information, but the writing is fluid and easy to read, and the information is interesting, so it could easily be read for pleasure from cover to cover.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Kirkus Book Review: “An attractive and useful resource.”
CONNECTIONS
This would be a great resource for teachers to bring in when having student do research papers over a person in history.
Related Books:
Roosevelt, Eleanor. 1960. You learn by living: eleven keys for a more fulfilling life. New
York, NY: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc. ISBN 0-662-24494-7
Book Review - The Great Fire
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Murphy, Jim. 1995. The great fire. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN 0-590-47267-4
PLOT SUMMARY
The great fire tells the story of the 1871 fire that burned Chicago down. Told largely from the perspectives of survivors, the story expands from the start of the first fire on Saturday night through the life of the second, 31 hour, fire that destroyed most of the city, and brought with it chaos and crime.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Murphy interlaces historical facts with stories from survivors to tell the story of The Great Fire of Chicago. After each chapter packed with vivid descriptions of the fire and the turmoil that is cause the people of Chicago to face, there is included a map that clearly marks the areas of the city that had burned at that point. This map progresses throughout the book with a final map providing the visual showing that most of the city was destroyed. There are also pictures and drawings dispersed throughout the book with captions accompanying them to further support the information. The style of writing is similar to that of a fictional novel, incorporating dialogue which creates an easy flow to the story. The presentation of the story is action packed and interesting, and a reader is inclined to continue through to discover what will happen next. The human element drives the story as the reader learns particular details of each person’s experiences that make the events from history even more real. The book ends with a bibliographic list of sources and an index to assist in research purposes.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred Horn Book Review - “Absorbing and riveting reading.”
CONNECTIONS
This book would be a good option to give students for a nonfiction reading assignment. It could also be used as a reference book for research, or a supplemental item in a history class.
Related Books:
Tarshis, Lauren. 2015. I survived the great Chicago fire, 1871. New York, NY: Scholastic, Inc. ISBN
978-0-545-65846-1
Book Review - Quest for the tree kangaroo: an expedition to the Cloud Forest of New Guinea
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Montgomery, Sy. 2006. Quest for the tree kangaroo: an expedition to the Cloud Forest of New
Guinea. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 978-0618-49641-6
PLOT SUMMARY
This nonfiction work follows the experience of scientist, Lisa Dabek, who travels to Papua New Guinea and the Cloud Forest in search of the Matschie’s tree kangaroo, a rare animal that she describes as, “something that Dr. Seuss might have dreamed up.” Lisa and her team set out on a quest to find the tree kangaroo, and teach the reader about many other animals found in the New Guinea forest along the way. The book also places focus on the people, culture, and science of the land.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
By following Lisa Dabek and her team, Montgomery puts forth enormous amounts of information about New Guinea, from it’s people and culture to the animals. The book opens with colorful maps of the area, and each page that follows has big colorful photographs taken by Nic Bishop that help visually tell the story. The perspectives and personal encounters of Dabek and her team create a unique angle for this book. Not only is it a useful resource of good information, but the reader also gets involved with the people and their passion to find the tree kangaroo. While the title hints that the book will focus on the kangaroo, Montgomery packs in information about the region and the people that the scientists encounter. While this would be a fun book for readers to page through and learn about a variety of things in New Guinea, the index in the back is very useful to someone searching for particular information. Also included at the end of the book is a feature on a tree kangaroo at the Woodland Park Zoo, a list of more resources to check out, and a short lesson on speaking Tok Pinson.
REVIEW EXCERPT(S)
Starred Kirkus Review - “From the maps in front to the concluding suggestions for young enthusiasts, information about the language, and index, this is another commendable title from an experienced team.”
CONNECTIONS
This is a good reference book for an animal science class, or for a specific research project in another class. It would also be a good book to use with timid readers who like to learn about animals.
