Rachel Carson: A Twentieth-Century Life (Up Close Series) [Hardcover]

Ellen S. Levine (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

Rachel Carson combined her love of science and writing in her awardwinning and controversial book, Silent Spring. Revealing the dangers of pesticide use, it brought readers a new awareness of man’s contamination of the environment and ultimately led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Starred Review. Grade 6–9—Levine describes how Carson's childhood, strong relationship with a supportive mother, and lifelong love of nature influenced her decision to become a biologist and later made her an environmental pioneer. The author draws on numerous primary sources to document the scientist's life and provides considerable information about her education and early career as well as the work that made her famous. She details how Carson's determination helped her overcome many obstacles, including financial struggles, gender discrimination, and family crises, and describes her long and courageous battle with the cancer that ended her life. Levine also analyzes how the woman's work contributed to a greater public understanding of the dangers of pollutants and became the impetus for the environmental movement and related federal laws. Levine is admiring of her subject; she includes a quote comparing the impact of Carson's work with that of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, which President Lincoln credited with starting the Civil War. Average-quality black-and-white photos supplement the text and there are extensive notes and an annotated bibliography with a wide variety of sources. This book provides more detail about Carson's personal life than George Shea's Rachel Carson: Founder of the Environmental Movement (Gale, 2005), which is shorter and more focused on her career and impact on environmentalism. This is an excellent choice for those who want to learn more about the woman behind the legend.—Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Direct, eloquent, and precise, this biography in the Up Close series offers an intimate portrait of environmental pioneer Rachel Carson. In well-paced chapters filled with relevant quotes, Levine traces how Carson's passion for the science of living things, which began during her rural youth, developed into an astonishing career that helped make careful stewardship of Earth a national issue. Throughout, Levine emphasizes the prevailing attitudes toward women's roles and how Carson was able to overcome those limiting expectations to break ground and become such an effective voice for environmental concerns. A few of the scattered black-and-white photos and drawings show Carson in the field; source notes and a bibliography close. A balanced, thoroughly researched introduction to an original scientist whose work remains of urgent importance today. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile (April 5, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670062200
• ISBN-13: 978-0670062201
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #456,957 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ellen Levine has always been drawn to stories of people who struggled for justice, and of ordinary people who did extraordinary things. She was fascinated by Henry "Box" Brown, whose escape is recounted in The Underground Railroad by William Still, first published in 1872. Ms. Levine was awed by Henry's ingenious idea and moved by his incredible courage. Among the author's award-winning books are Freedom's Children, winner of the Jane Addams Peace Award and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults; and Darkness Over Denmark, a Jame Addams Peace Award Honor Book and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. She lives in New York City and Salem, New York.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction to Rachel Carson, February 6, 2008

By 

Knowledge Contagion (California - again) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Up Close: Rachel Carson (Paperback)

I ended up checking this book out from the library because it seemed to be the only decent biography on Rachel Carson. I didn't realize until I got home that it was written for middle schoolers. I read it anyway because I hadn't read any biographies on her.

This a great introduction to Rachel Carson, especially for children and young adults who have more than a passing interest in marine biology or environmental issues and who might even be considering devoting their lives to one, the other or both. If nothing else, it would be a good source for a paper or report that needs to be written.

This book was written in a way that reminds the reader that women weren't always treated as first class citizens - even after we got the vote. Ellen Levine does a great job illuminating Rachel Carson as a person, scientist and author of her generation without providing a history lesson or going into details that her audience might find boring.

The book contains many excerpts of Rachel Carson's work so you get an idea of how she wrote if you haven't read any of her books yet. There are also excerpts from letters to and from Rachel. (If you're interested in reading more of Rachel's letters, Always, Rachel: The Letters of Rachel Carson and Dorothy Freeman, 1952-1964 - The Story of a Remarkable Friendship (Concord Library) is a fabulous book of letters written between Carson and her best friend, Dorothy Freeman.)

There is a helpful bibliography at the end of the book that will point you in the right direction if you want to read more about Rachel Carson - and this book should really whet your appetite when it comes to learning more about the woman who pretty much single handedly sparked the environmental movement.

Update: I finally got a comprehensive biography on Rachel Carson that is simply awesome! Rachel Carson: Witness for Nature

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Rachel Carson, August 22, 2010

By 

BarbM. (Arizona United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Up Close: Rachel Carson: Rachel Carson (Kindle Edition)

Up Close:Rachel Carson is really a good book. She was an amazing individual. This book really brings her to life and explains her lifes work.... Love of the natural world and writing about it.