Final Book Reviews for January

 

STAR BRIGHT - Andrew M. Greeley (135 pages)

c. 1997  In this charming little Christmas love story, the Irish kid from Chicago, attending Boston College, meets a lovely Russian girl studying at Harvard. They hit it off because he speaks Russian and wants to practice his second language. As Christmas approaches, he invites her to fly home with him to Chicago to meet his raucous, quarrelsome Irish family. The story is full of Russian folklore and cherished Christmas stories and traditions.

GIDEON’S GIFT - Karen Kingsbury (99 pages)

c. 2002  This is a sweet, but rather predictable, Christmas story that teaches it’s better to give than to receive. A little girl with leukemia and in need of a life-saving bone marrow transplant tries to help a stubborn old homeless man see that life really is worth living. For those with children, this would make a great Christmas story to read one chapter a night over the twelve days of Christmas.

WHITE HOUSE KIDS - Susan Edwards (159 pages)

c. 1999  This was an amusing and interesting book about the children of American presidents who lived in the White House (up through Chelsea Clinton, the only child of Bill and Hillary Clinton). I was especially interested in reading of the lives of the presidents and their families before John F. Kennedy, as I knew very little about them previously. The book told about White House pets and weddings too.

AN OPTICAL ARTIST - Greg Roza (31 pages)

c. 2005   This is a very brief introduction to the Dutch artist M.C. Escher (1898-1972) for children. (It was the only book in our public library that I could find on this creative genius.) It concentrates on tessellations (tilings): arrangements of similar shapes on a plane that fit together perfectly without overlapping or leaving gaps. Escher studied the ornate Islamic tile patterns in the 14^th century Alhambra palace on several trips to Spain and pronounced them “the richest source of inspiration I have ever tapped.” His incredible optical-illusion illustrations surprise and baffle the mind.

HITTING THE ROAD: The Art of the American Road Map - John Margolies (129 pages)

c. 1996  Who would have guessed that the lowly road map would have had such a fascinating past?

             Dating back to the turn of the 20^th century, oil companies (and others) gave away free road maps at service stations all over the country.  Not only were they meant to promote a certain brand of gasoline, but they were also intended to spark America’s interest in travel in general, thereby increasing the consumption of gasoline.

            This book is a nostalgic journey into yesteryear, with its colorful road map cover art depicting changing styles of cars, clothing and service station design.  A typical early road map cover showed a handsome chap driving a barge-sized convertible with his favorite gal by his side, her hair and scarf flying in the wind, breezing along the highway in some scenic locale.  Others showed the always helpful gas station attendant pointing out directions to a lost motorist at some snazzy, sparkling clean service station. (Does anyone remember gas station attendants?) Women drivers started appearing in road map art during the decade of the 1930s.

            The maps themselves evolved over the years as new roads to everywhere were built. At first confusing, since roads weren’t numbered or named, they later became easier to understand when the state of Wisconsin, in 1918, started numbering its “state highways” and the idea caught on in other states. There was even a map of the route from NYC to Florida printed upside down, with south pointing up, so snowbirds wouldn’t become confused about right and left turns on their way south.

            Today, with GPS and other computer aids, road maps have become almost obsolete.  The first Arab oil imbargo in 1973 brought about the demise of the free road map, but they can still be had, if you want to pay $5 or $6 for them. Personally, I prefer my Rand McNally Road Atlas.  I never got the hang of the unfolding and refolding of the nearly one hundred different origami-like folding patterns that have been patented over the years.  Old road maps, in good shape (rare), are now sought-after collectors’ items.