Death on the River of Doubt - an audiobook review

Death on the River of Doubt
By Samantha Seiple
Read by David de Vries

Modern presidents usually retire to enjoy family and do charitable works.  Theodore Roosevelt was unusual even in his day. Small and sickly as a child, he became a fearless outdoorsman.  After his presidency, despite his advancing age, he accepted a dangerous mission to survey an uncharted Brazilian river with a team of Brazilian and American explorers and cartographers.

Relying heavily on the journals of the explorers, Samantha Seiple tells a riveting true story of the exploration of the river that now bears his name.  i listened to the audio version, but I'm sure it's equally entertaining in print.

Generally listed as a YA nonfiction title, this is also suitable for older middle school readers. Adults will find it interesting as well.  In audio book format, it's a brisk 3.5 hours.

I recently reviewed this book for AudioFile Magazine. You can read my complete review at AudioFile Magazine. [https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/124096/death-on-the-river-of-doubt-by-samantha-seiple/]

Life in the Ocean - a review

I've just returned from vacation and have some catching up to do, but I didn't want to let Nonfiction Monday pass by without highlighting Claire A. Nivola's beautiful picture book, Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle.


Nivola, Claire A. 2012. Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux.

Born in 1935, Sylvia Earle rode in a single passenger airplane at the age of 5, was diving by the age of 16, went on an expedition in the Indian Ocean (the only female member of the expedition!), helped design a submersible diving bubble, once lived for 2 weeks under water, and served as the chief scientist at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Ostensibly a biographical story of the admirable, Sylvia Earle, Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle is this and more.

Life in the Ocean inspires the reader to follow his dreams, wherever they may lead, and for the reader already interested in the natural world, and marine environments in particular, Life in the Ocean calls him to explore,

     We have explored only 5 percent of the ocean.  We know more about the planets in outer space than we know about the sea on our very own home planet!
  

Claire Nivola's detailed paintings illustrate her intense interest in the natural world, showing even a lone mussel or skate egg sac on the ocean floor.  Most of the illustrations are large and surrounded by white space, offset by manageable blocks of text in a simple font.  However, smaller square illustrations are used to highlight the two more biographical pages of the book - each square featuring a milestone in Earle's life. The painting of a humpback whale swimming past Sylvia is stunningly serene, but calls to mind our individual insignificance on the planet. Check out Macmillan's Flickr gallery of artwork from Life in the Ocean to see this (though truncated) and many other illustrations from the book.

A lengthy and illustrated Author's Note contains additional information on Sylvia Earle and the current state of the earth's oceans. A Selected Bibliography rounds out this engaging and informational text.

Beautiful, inspiring and enlightening. Highly recommended.

Other reviews @
Waking Brain Cells
Kirkus Reviews

While Sylvia Earle may have "lost her heart to the water," after leaving her home in New Jersey for Florida, the ocean here in New Jersey is also a source of constant wonder, where my family has enjoyed sighting whales, dolphins, bio luminescent creatures lighting up the evening breakers, wave-surfing manta rays, and all manner of other more mundane, but nonetheless fascinating creatures.  Life in the Ocean reminds me that these everyday marvels may not always be so. They need our support as well as our admiration.

Dr. Sylvia Earle displays samples to aquanaut inside TEKTITE.
  Source: NOAA Photo Library
[http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/htmls/nur08002.htm]
OAR/National Undersea Research Program (NURP)

If you're interested in what Sylvia Earle is doing today, visit Mission Blue: Sylvia Earle Alliance.

Today's Nonfiction Monday roundup is at The Nonfiction Detectives.

Hudson

Weaver, Janice. 2010. Hudson. Illustrated by David Craig. Ontario, Canada: Tundra.
(Early Reviewer Copy from LibraryThing)

The Hudson River, the Hudson Bay, the Hudson Strait - all bear the name of Henry Hudson, the English explorer.  Though he never found the northern passage to China that he was seeking, Janice Weaver’s new book, Hudson, shows that he was likely a competent and fearless seafarer, and ultimately helped to advance humankind’s knowledge of the world.

Working with the very minimal details available about Henry Hudson’s life, Weaver creates a compelling, understandable portrait of Hudson’s complex life, using period quotes whenever possible,

"I hoped to have a clear sea between the land and the ice,” wrote Hudson in his journal, “and be able to circle north of this land.”  

The book is divided into short, chronological, illustrated chapters that recount his early life, his four major voyages (1607-1610), the mutiny that likely claimed his life, and its aftermath. Text insets offer additional information to add interest and context to the story.  “The Art of Navigation” inset contains a photograph of a seventeenth-century astrolabe and a short explanation of its use and of the many difficulties of sailing in an age when sailors had to rely on the stars to determine their location.  Other insets highlight the whaling and spice trades.  Particularly interesting is “Of Mariners and Mermaids,” in which readers are reminded of the superstitions of the time.

In Hudson’s journal entry for June 15, 1608, he records matter-of-factly that his men have spotted a mermaid swimming alongside the ship.  “She was close to the ship’s side,” he reports, “and looked earnestly at the men.... As they saw her, from the navel upward, her back and breast were like a woman’s... and she had long black hair hanging down behind.  In her going down they saw her tail, which was like the tail of a porpoise, and speckled like a mackerel.”

David Craig (Amelia Earhart: Legend of the Lost Aviator) contributes original paintings depicting life as a seventeenth century mariner. Full-page illustrations of sailors chopping ice, facing stormy seas, and braving icy decks highlight the extremely dangerous nature of early seagoing exploration, particularly when traveling North of the Arctic Circle in a small wooden boat. In addition to the original artwork, images of period maps, paintings and other realia add more interest to an already fascinating story.

Further reading sites, historic sites, credits and an index follow this fascinating look at a fascinating explorer.  Interesting and well researched.  Recommended for ages 9 and up.

Note: Don’t seal down the dust cover on this one. The inside of the jacket is an attractive poster with map!

It’s Nonfiction Monday!  Today’s host is thebooknosher.  Stop by!

Share

Who Was First? Discovering the Americas

Freedman, Russell. 2007. Who Was First? Discovering the Americas. Read by L.J. Ganser. Listening Library.
(1 hour, 45 minutes)

(This review is of the audiobook version)

Who Was First? Discovering the Americas is a detailed look at the many possible interpretations of the "discovery" of the Americas.  Working backwards , Russell Freedman begins with Columbus' well-known voyage, and travels back in time to the voyages of China's Zheng He and Scandinavia's Leif Eriksson, to the journeys of America's true "first" discoverers, Stone Age immigrants who arrived 20, 30 or even 50 thousand years ago.

Who Was First? makes use of first person accounts and log books when available, and offers fascinating and little-known facts. When Columbus "discovered" America, "the central Mexican plateau, heartland of the Aztec empire, may have contained as many as 25 million people, compared to fewer than 10 million living in Spain and Portugal.  That would have made Mexico the most densely populated place on Earth at the time, with more people per square mile than China or India." (!) A lesson, not only in history, but in scientific method, Freedman carefully distinguishes between myth, theory, probability, and fact.

Read with enthusiasm and zeal for the topic, L.J. Ganser's rendering of Freedman's book should keep listeners engaged, but sadly, listeners of the audio version will miss out on the many maps and photos in the print version.

Although, the audiobook version makes no comment about sources, a look at the print copy shows that Freedman has done his customarily excellent job of research. Chapter notes, Bibliography, Acknowledgements, Picture Credits and Index are included in the print version.