From the Charlesbridge Website:
In 1922, when Joseph-Armand Bambardier was fifteen years old he built his first snow vehicle. He had always loved to tinker with motors and make things go, and he dreamed of building a vehicle that could go over snow. His first attempt, using a Model T Ford engine and a wooden propeller, worked well. To Joseph-Armand’s mind, anyhow. Not so much his father, who made him take the contraption apart.
Over the years, Joseph-Armand dreamed of becoming a great mechanic and inventing machines. But when his young son died of a fever because it was impossible to get to the hospital over the snow-covered roads, Joseph-Armand applied his single-minded determination to building a vehicle that could go over snow. It took years, but he accomplished his goal. His invention changed the way people in snow country lived. Inaccessible roads could now be travelled, taking patients to hospitals, doctors and priests to the needy, children to school, and even mail to residents.
I.M. Pei: Architect of Time, Place and Purpose
By: Jill Rubaloca
From Kirkus:
This lively blend of narrative and detailed design is a perfect way to introduce the architectural vision of I.M. Pei to young readers.
This striking biography demonstrates how I.M. (Ieoh Ming) Pei melded the influences of his native China with the modernity of his adopted American home to create a unique, influential architectural vision. Pei’s family fled turbulent times on the mainland to Hong Kong, where his father became a successful banker. However, it was his artistic and spiritual mother who had the greater influence, despite her death in his early teens. After MIT, his plan to return to China was thwarted by war. Pei’s talent led to work on the JFK Presidential Library and the renovation of the Louvre Museum in Paris, among others. His projects were not without controversy, but eventually his artistic genius prevailed, changing the way modern architecture is viewed and appreciated. Rubalcaba, an honor recipient of the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Every Bone Tells a Story(2010), has crafted an elegant work that combines sparkling text with graceful design. Carefully chosen photographs both support and add to the narrative, as do project sketches and floor plans. The layout is eye catching yet sophisticated, but the book is nevertheless entirely readable and accessible to young readers.
An exquisite package, much like one of Pei’s buildings. (timeline, bibliography, source notes, index, suggestions for further reading, listings of building projects, awards)
Trapped: How the World Rescued 33 Miners from 2,000 Feet Below the Chilean Desert
By: Mark Aronson
From Publisher's Weekly
Aronson marks the one-year anniversary of the collapse of a Chilean copper mine that entombed miners for more than two months with a riveting, in-depth recounting of the events that held the world rapt. His fluid narrative begins with a brief eyewitness account of the cave-in before contextualizing the disaster. Initial chapters cover mine layout and terminology, as well as prehistoric geology (and how it helped form Chile's Atacama Desert) and the mythology of the blacksmith god, Hephaistos, who "creates the tool the hero needs, and yet he is lame, ugly, a figure of fun." Aronson (Sugar Changed the World) smartly links this ancient pejorative attitude to contemporary ones toward mining despite reliance on its products, drawing on cultural connections between the underground world and hell, Hades, etc. Twelve short chapters with photos and diagrams keep the story well-paced as it alternates between above- and below-ground scenes, detailing the heroic efforts of the trapped men, their waiting families, and their rescuers, sometimes on an hour-by-hour basis. Extensive author and source notes, a bibliography, and suggested reading leave plenty for readers to explore. Ages 8–12.
by Rosalyn Schanzer
From Rosalyn's Website:
It was January, 1692, and as an icy winter wind shrieked through Salem Village, Massachusetts, two young girls began to twitch and choke and contort their bodies into strange abnormal shapes and speak in words that made no sense. Their family tried every remedy in the book, but nothing worked. Finally a doctor announced his dire diagnosis: The girls were BEWITCHED! And then the accusations began. This book tells the gripping true story of the victims, accused witches, scheming officials, and mass hysteria that turned a mysterious illness afflicting two children into a witch hunt that took 20 lives and ruined hundreds more.
From Henry Holt's Website:
On December 6, 1917 two ships collided in Halifax Harbour. One ship was loaded top to bottom with munitions and one held relief supplies, both intended for wartorn Europe. The resulting blast flattened two towns, Halifax and Dartmouth, and killed nearly 2,000 people. As if that wasn't devastating enough, a blizzard hit the next day, dumping more than a foot of snow on the area and paralyzing much-needed relief efforts. Fascinating, edge-of-your-seat storytelling based on original source material conveys this harrowing account of tragedy and recovery.
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