Around the World In a Hundred Years - Softcover

Acclaimed biographer, Jean Fritz, was born in China where she lived until the age of thirteen. She tells her story in Homesick, My Own Story, a Newbery Honor Book.      Ms Fritz is the author of forty-five books for children and young people. Many center on historical American figures, gaining her a reputation as the premier author of biographies for children and young people.      Among the prestigious awards Ms. Fritz has garnered are: a medal from the National Endowment for the Humanities, a May Hill Arbuthnot Lecture, a Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, an American Book Award, a Christopher Award, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Non-Fiction Award, a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and many ALA Notable Books of the Year, School Library Journal Best Books of the Year, and ALA Booklist Editors’ Choice Awards.   

Grade 4-7-A look at "the first great wave of European exploration" (1421-1522) through brief portraits of various participants. Fritz does many things well here. She writes with ease and humor, including details that add color and humanity to historical figures, and skillfully incorporates research into her narrative. She presents the heroic aspects of the voyages, as well as evidence of the arrogance, cruelty, and greed many of these men displayed. Despite all the good attributes, the book suffers because of the complexity of the subject matter. By including so many different individuals, the issue becomes complicated; after a while, the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese names start to run together. Some of the men's lifetimes and discoveries overlap, which makes it even more difficult to sort out who did what... and when. The illustrations are beautiful, entertaining, Renaissance-inspired pencil drawings. They include many amusing touches, such as the island of Porto Santo being overtaken by rabbits, but because they are in black and white and almost too finely drawn, they do not have a great deal of child appeal. A map at the beginning of each chapter shows the explorer's route. An outline of the continents appears on the end papers, but there aren't enough world maps throughout the book to enable readers to get a more complete picture of how the "discovered" countries fit into the world as a whole. The text is not straightforward enough for reports, but interested readers may enjoy perusing these tales of adventure and scientific discovery.
Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.