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

By Ellen Levine

Book Overview

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#146;s contamination of the environment and ultimately led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670062200
• ISBN13: 9780670062201
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.3" x 0.9" x 5.4"
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Great Introduction to Rachel Carson

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 that whoever is reading it can get a taste for how she wrote, if she hasn't read any of her books before. There are also excerpts from letters to and from Rachel. There is a helpful bibliography at the end of the book that will point you in the write 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.