A fascinating blend of social and environmental history and engineering.
An extensively researched exploration into the people, the river, and the economics behind the creation of Hoover Dam.
Completed in 1936, Hoover Dam was heralded as a human victory over the wild Colorado River, providing water and electricity for millions, including the residents of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and other cities. Less than a century later, climate change, combined with increased demands for water, have depleted the once seemingly endless river. Primary sources and quotations from several oral history projects put readers in the boots of some of the more than 20,000 men who worked in dangerous conditions and sweltering heat to complete this feat, made possible by cutting-edge technology and clever engineering. The absorbing chronological narrative follows the construction of the dam, delving into the social, economic, political, and cultural issues that propelled the project forward. Visual aids add immediacy, including maps, construction plans, advertisements, and black-and-white photos showing the vast scope of the project, the powerful white men in charge, the workers and their families, and the devastating environmental consequences. The impacts on Indigenous and Black people are mentioned—for example, exclusion from compensation for land taken, destruction of sites and artifacts, forced labor, and unequal wages and work conditions. The inclusion of many exact measurements provides insight into the enormity of the project but at times overwhelms the narrative.
A fascinating blend of social and environmental history and engineering. (timeline, dams on the Colorado River, notes, sources, picture credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-16)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9780316380744
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Written straightforwardly, it’s not the most engaging read, but it is an invaluable record of an incredible life.
An encompassing look at Norman Mineta, the first Asian-American to serve as mayor of a major American city, a Congressman, and Secretary of Commerce and Transportation under George W. Bush.
Mineta is a Nisei, a second-generation Japanese-American, born in San Jose, California. Writing efficiently with concise descriptors, Warren narrates in the third person, focusing primarily on the family and social environment of Mineta’s school-age years. Warren starts with Mineta’s father and his immigration to the U.S. for work. He wisely became fluent in English while working in the fields, later establishing his own insurance business, enabling him to give all five children great educational opportunities. Their lives are quickly disrupted by World World II. Mineta now 11, his parents, and most of his much-older siblings are sent to an assembly center in Santa Anita, California. Eventually they end up in Heart Mountain War Relocation Center, Wyoming. The experience drives Mineta to later pursue politics and to introduce the Civil Liberties Act of 1988, offering camp survivors restitution and a formal apology from the government. Warren includes anecdotes of white allies, including a chapter about Alan Simpson, a childhood acquaintance and later a political ally of Mineta in Congress. Pronunciation guides to Japanese are provided in the text. Archival photographs provide visuals, and primary-source quotes—including racial slurs—contribute historical context. No timeline is provided.
Written straightforwardly, it’s not the most engaging read, but it is an invaluable record of an incredible life. (author’s note, bibliography, index) (Biography. 10-15)Pub Date: April 30, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4151-8
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
If Freedman wrote the history textbooks, we would have many more historians. Beginning with an engrossing description of the Boston Tea Party in 1773, he brings the reader the lives of the American colonists and the events leading up to the break with England. The narrative approach to history reads like a good story, yet Freedman tucks in the data that give depth to it. The inclusion of all the people who lived during those times and the roles they played, whether small or large are acknowledged with dignity. The story moves backwards from the Boston Tea Party to the beginning of the European settlement of what they called the New World, and then proceeds chronologically to the signing of the Declaration. “Your Rights and Mine” traces the influence of the document from its inception to the present ending with Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. The full text of the Declaration and a reproduction of the original are included. A chronology of events and an index are helpful to the young researcher. Another interesting feature is “Visiting the Declaration of Independence.” It contains a short review of what happened to the document in the years after it was written, a useful Web site, and a description of how it is displayed and protected today at the National Archives building in Washington, D.C. Illustrations from the period add interest and detail. An excellent addition to the American history collection and an engrossing read. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8234-1448-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2000
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