LIFE: Our Century in Pictures for Young People

by Richard B. Stolley (Editor), Amy E. Sklansky (Editor), Amy E. Sklansky (Illustrator)

Overview

Picture yourself watching in awe as the astronaut Neil Armstrong steps on the moon for the first time. Or seeing Charles Lindbergh land his plane, The Spirit of St. Louis, after the first ever nonstop flight over the Atlantic Ocean. Drawing from Life magazine and the greatest photo archives ever, this book chronicles the 20th Century for young people and will make their minds soar by way of an unparalleled collection of more than 380 photographs.

The book spans the past 100 years in nine chapters. Each chapter is introduced with an essay by a notable children's writer, including Katherine Paterson, Jane Yolen, Avi, Robert Cormier, Lois Lowry, Fredrick and Patricia McKissack, Jerry Spinelli, Gary Paulsen, and Cynthia Rylant. In each chapter is a special section, called Turning Point, that traces an event or trend from the beginning of the century forward. And each epoch closes with a Requiem, which recalls some memorable individuals who died during that time.

The worlds of politics, science and technology, and the arts, as well as the lives we led at home -- all are explored and brilliantly captured within these pages.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316815895
Publisher:	Little, Brown and Company
Publication date:	10/01/2000
Edition description:	1 ED
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	9.64(w) x 11.18(h) x 0.99(d)
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

Table of Contents

	Editor's Note: Dust Bowls and Other Dreams	vi
	1900-1913: Across the Threshold	1
	"The Dawn of the American Century"	2
	Turning Point: Titanic and Beyond	19
	Requiem: Mark Twain, Harriet Tubman, Geronimo, Susan B. Anthony	21
	1914-1919: The War to End All Wars	23
	"A New Kind of War"	24
	Turning Point: The American Musical	33
	Requiem: Buffalo Bill, Booker T. Washington, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Frank Woolworth...	43
	1920-1929: All That Glitters	45
	"Get Hot!"	46
	Turning Point: Closing the Gender Gap	53
	Requiem: Lizzie Borden, Enrico Caruso, Wyatt Earp, Alexander Graham Bell...	63
	1930-1939: Empty Pockets	65
	"Years of Hilarity and Heartbreak"	66
	Turning Point: The Fugitive Kind	77
	Requiem: Thomas Edison, Amelia Earhart, Sigmund Freud, George Gershwin...	89
	1940-1945: World on Fire	91
	"The Home Front"	92
	Turning Point: Conquest of the Atom	115
	Requiem: Beatrix Potter, Lou Gehrig, F. Scott Fitzgerald, George Washington Carver...	119
	1946-1963: Spreading the Wealth	121
	"Changes"	122
	Turning Point: Struggle for Respect	139
	Requiem: Robert Frost, James Dean, Eva Peron, Frank Lloyd Wright...	155
	1964-1975: Dissent and Disobedience	157
	"Years of Turbulence"	158
	Turning Point: Exploring the Heavens	175
	Requiem: Roberto Clemente, Che Guevara, Oskar Schindler, J. R. R. Tolkien...	183
	1976-1992: A Global Burst of Freedom	185
	"Liberty for All"	186
	Turning Point: Shrinking the World	197
	Requiem: Bob Marley, Dr. Seuss, Alfred Hitchcock, Jim Henson...	209
	1993-1999: OurFuture.com	213
	"Good Wins Out"	214
	Turning Point: Origin of the Species	223
	Requiem: Jerry Garcia, John F. Kennedy Jr., Arthur Ashe, Mother Teresa...	228
	Index to Pictures	230

Editorial Reviews

Our Review
"A picture is worth a thousand words." Building on this concept, the folks at Life magazine have compiled a dazzling look at the past century, aimed specifically at younger readers. Using images and photos from the magazine's immense collection, the book features hundreds of amazing pieces of history. From world leaders to world disasters to dramatic social change, this book touches all of the major events from the turn of the 20th century onward. Each section includes an introduction by a popular and influential children's author, such as Jane Yolen, Lois Lowry, and Jerry Spinelli.

History can sometimes seem an abstract and distant thing to teens and young readers. Using a colletion of touching and remarkable photos and essays, this collection strives to teach with more than facts. The book is also conveniently outlined to include the birth of new ideas in the beginning of each decade and concludes with the death of notable persons at the end of the epoch. Perfectly suited for browsing, learning, and appreciating history, Life: Our Century in Pictures for Young People is sure to appeal to teen readers around the country.

bn.com

Adapted by Amy Sklansky from the adult bestseller LIFE: Our Century in Pictures, this superb collection of carefully chosen, powerful images with pithy captions captures the events, people and culture that shaped the last 100 years. The volume overall does not go into the same amount of detail as Jennings and Brewster's recent The Century for Young People; on the other hand, Stolley, a longtime Time-Life journalist, covers events on a global scale. An ideal introduction for young people because of its highly visual focus, the book juxtaposes events close to home with those far away; in one spread, for example, a caption for a photo of Margaret Sanger discusses her 1916 arrest in New York for preaching contraception and appears alongside a picture of Dublin's Easter Monday uprising the same year. Stolley divides the century into nine chapters or "epochs," each briefly introduced by an award-winning children's author, including Lois Lowry, Jerry Spinelli and Katherine Paterson. Patricia and Fredrick McKissack's "Changes" (covering 1946-1963), for instance, offers a personal look at postwar America and sets the stage for the burgeoning civil rights and women's movements with all their triumphs and disappointments. Each chapter includes a "Turning Point" that describes such pivotal developments as space exploration and such cultural phenomena as the American musical, and concludes with a "Requiem" commemorating the deceased who defined the era. A visual treasure trove. Ages 10-up. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 6-9-Stolley has divided this century snapshot into nine sections, each introduced with an essay written by a familiar author. For example, Katherine Paterson's essay "The Dawn of the American Century" introduces the period "1900-1913: Across the Threshold" and Robert Cormier's "Years of Hilarity and Heartbreak" provides the lead in to "1930-1939: Empty Pockets." The final chapter "1993-1999: OurFuture.com" opens with Cynthia Rylant's "Good Wins Out." In each section, the essays are followed by pages of photographs from Life magazine, some in color, most in black and white, ranging in number from 8 for 1920-1929 to 24 for 1946-1963. Both the essays and pictures are broad in scope, encompassing history, politics, music, medicine, professional and amateur sports, societal movements, and much more. "Requiem," which concludes each period, is a selection of biographical sketches and portraits of prominent figures who died during those years. This enticing overview is geared to a younger audience than Harold Evans's The American Century (Knopf, 1998) or Peter Jennings and Todd Brewster's The Century (Doubleday, 1998).-Joanne K. Cecere, Highland High School, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

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