Books published by publisher Chicago Review Press

Mary Stewart, author of many bestselling novels, has been often compared with the Brontë sisters. Her 1960 classic My Brother Michael, with its superb mingling of romance and suspense, its vivid descriptions and overtone of impending disaster, is further evidence that the comparison is richly deserved. Perhaps Camilla Haven unintentionally invoked the gods that afternoon in the crowded Athens café when she wrote to a friend, “Nothing ever happens to me.” But a few hours later, an extraordinary train of events had dispatched Camilla to Delphi, to be in the company of a charming but quietly determined Englishman named Simon Lester. Simon told Camilla he had come to the ancient Greek ruins to “appease the shade” of his brother Michael, killed some fourteen years earlier on Parnassus. From a curious letter Michael had written, Simon believed his brother had stumbled upon something of great importance hidden in the craggy reaches of the mountainside. And then Simon and Camilla learned that they were not alone in their search . . .

From cobras and copperheads to pythons and boas, all types of snakes are covered in this book of 40 science experiments, art projects, and games that help budding herpetologists gain a greater appreciation for these slithering reptiles. Activities include making foldable fangs to learn how snakes’ teeth and jaws work together; simulating cytotoxic snake venom while making a tasty snack using an everyday enzyme found in pineapple; and mimicking the sound a rattlesnake makes using a rubber band, a paper clip, and an envelope. Engaging, simple, and safe experiments teach kids about the biology of snakes, such as how they use their tongues and nostrils to detect smells, how they are cold-blooded and sensitive to subtle changes in temperature, and how they can detect the slightest vibrations or tremors. Kids do not need a snake for any of the activities and will delight in all the strange snake facts and gross-out projects such as Snake Stink—where they create their own signature stink and test how well it repels potential predators.Did you know...Snakes do not need to be coiled to strike. They can strike from any position, even underwater!Cobras and coachwhips are two of the few snakes that can move in a straight line forward while keeping their upper body raised off the groundSnake venom can actually help humans too: a blood pressure medicine was developed from the venom of a Brazilian pit viper, and over 60 other treatments have been created from snake venoms

A lifelong love of art is one of the greatest gifts an adult can bestow on a child—and no period of art is better loved or more available to children than Impressionism. Monet and the Impressionists for Kids invites children to delight in Cassatt’s mothers and children, Renoir’s dancing couples, and Gaugin’s island scenes; 21 activities explore Monet’s quick shimmering brush strokes, Cezanne’s brilliant rectangles of color, Seurat’s pointillism, and Degas’ sculpture-like circles of dancers. Kids will learn how the artists’ friendships sustained them through repeated rejection by the Parisian art world, and how they lived, painted, and thrilled to the vibrant life of Paris at the approach of the 20th century. A resource section guides readers to important museums and Web sites around the world.

Using everything from electric motors, balloons, and gears to water jets, steam, chemical reactions, and even gravity, this clever handbook offers a variety of choices for propelling homemade vessels across a pool. Through step-by-step instructions with clear photos, kids will learn how to build more than 20 different model boats for traveling above water and several different submarine projects for traveling below the surface. In addition to the boatbuilding activities included within, young naval architects will find instructions for building an “ocean” to test the boats and a variety of accessories, including four different water pumps, a waterproof battery and motor case, and a working foghorn. Most of the watercrafts are built from recycled and easy-to-find materials, but an appendix also lists local and online sources for wire, plastic propellers, small motors, and more. Do-it-yourselfers and kids with an interest in how things work will find hours of educational entertainment in the projects offered within.

Classic masterpieces are bold, fascinating, and sometimes shocking—in other words, perfect for creative children who love to be inspired. Fine Art Adventures introduces young artists, ages 6 and up, to key masterpieces and interesting techniques, then lets them loose. Children will: create a Pointillist artwork with paints and a toothbrush, work with plaster to recreate a cave painting, use cardboard and coat hangers to design a mobile sculpture, build a dramatic jungle scene inside an old shoebox, and many more engaging, hands-on projects.Authors and educators Maja Pitamic and Jill Laidlaw also explore the stories and meanings behind 18 well-known classic masterpieces from art history as inspiration for these kid-tested, exciting, and creative projects. No prior knowledge of art is required—just enthusiasm for the subject and a willingness to discover.

Elswyth Thane is best known for her Williamsburg series, seven novels published between 1943 and 1957 that follow several generations of two families from the American Revolution to World War II. Dawn’s Early Light is the first novel in the series. In it, Colonial Williamsburg comes alive. Thane centers her novel around four major characters: the Aristrocratic St. John Sprague, who becomes George Washington’s aide; Regina Greensleeves, a Virginia beauty spoiled by a season in London; Julian Day, a young schoolmaster who arrives from England on the eve of the war and initially thinks of himself as a Tory; and Tibby Mawes, one of his less fortunate pupils, saddled with an alcoholic father and an indigent mother. But we also see Washington, Jefferson, Lafayette, Greene, Patrick Henry, Francis Marion, and the rest of that brilliant galaxy playing their roles not as historical figures but as men. We see de Kalb’s gallant death under a cavalry charge at Camden. We penetrate to the swamp-encircled camp which was Marion’s stronghold on the Peedee. We watch the cat-and-mouse game between Cornwallis and Lafayette, which ended in Cornwallis’s unlucky stand at Yorktown. Dawn’s Early Light is the human story behind our first war for liberty, and of the men and women loving and laughing through it to the dawn of a better world.

A June wedding sets the scene for Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s bestselling novel, Dearly Beloved. The ceremony is a great moment during which the “gathered together” survey not just this couple, this occasion, but their own lives, hopes, and fears. As the family and guests follow the familiar marriage service, they are stirred to new insights—on love, on marriage, and on all the stages of development involved. For the young and eager bridesmaid and best man, marriage still lies ahead; but for the mothers of the bride and groom, and for friends and relatives, the sight of the young couple and the words of the minister evoke more troubling thoughts and deeper questions. Anne Morrow Lindbergh wisely chose the framework of a wedding as a meditation on togetherness to contrast the questions she contemplated on solitude in her bestselling classic Gift from the Sea. The novel's structure also gave her scope for her reflections—some of them autobiographical—and intuitions about the most crucial of human relationships, reflections she calls “a theme and variations.” This classic book, first published in 1962 and long out of print, illuminates the truths behind marriage, not with easy optimism, but with perception, compassion, candor, and courage.

From the Native Americans who lived in the Chicago area for thousands of years, to the first European explorers Marquette and Jolliet, to the 2005 Chicago White Sox World Series win, parents, teachers, and kids will love this comprehensive and exciting history of how Chicago became the third largest city in the U.S. Chicago’s spectacular and impressive history comes alive through activities such as building a model of the original Ferris Wheel, taking architectural walking tours of the first skyscrapers and Chicago’s oldest landmarks, and making a Chicago-style hotdog. Serving as both a guide to kids and their parents and an engaging tool for teachers, this book details the first Chicagoan Jean Baptiste Point du Sable, the Fort Dearborn Massacre, the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the building of the world’s first skyscraper, and the hosting of two World’s Fairs. In addition to uncovering Windy City treasures such as the birth of the vibrant jazz era of Louis Armstrong and the work of Chicago poets, novelists, and songwriters, kids will also learn about Chicago’s triumphant and tortured sports history.

Darwin and Evolution for Kids traces the transformation of a privileged and somewhat scatterbrained youth into the great thinker who proposed the revolutionary theory of evolution. Through 21 hands-on activities, young scientists learn about Darwin’s life and work and assess current evidence of evolution. Activities include going on a botanical treasure hunt, keeping field notes as a backyard naturalist, and tying knots for ship sails like those on the HMS Beagle. Children also learn how fossils are created, trace genetic traits through their family trees, and discover if acquired traits are passed along to future generations. By encouraging children, parents, and teachers to define the differences between theories and beliefs, facts and opinions, Darwin and Evolution for Kids does not shy away from a theory that continues to spark heated public debate more than a century after it was first proposed.

BERLIN, 1942. The Gestapo arrest eighteen-year-old Bert Lewyn and his parents, sending the latter to their deaths and Bert to work in a factory making guns for the Nazi war effort. Miraculously tipped off the morning the Gestapo round up all the Jews who work in the factories, Bert goes underground. He finds shelter sometimes with compassionate civilians, sometimes with people who find his skills useful and sometimes in the cellars of bombed-out buildings. Without proper identity papers, he survives as a hunted Jew in the flames and terror of Nazi Berlin in part by successfully mimicking non-Jews, even masquerading as an SS officer. But the Gestapo are hot on his trail… Before World War II, 160,000 Jews lived in Berlin. By 1945, only 3,000 remained alive. Bert was one of the few, and his thrilling memoir—from witnessing the famous 1933 book burning to the aftermath of the war in a displaced persons camp—offers an unparalleled depiction of the life of a runaway Jew caught in the heart of the Nazi empire.

This is the definitive biography of the legendary guitarist whom Muddy Waters and B. B. King held in high esteem and who created the prototype for Clapton, Hendrix, Page, and those who followed. Bloomfield was a member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, which inspired a generation of white blues players; he played with Bob Dylan in the mid-1960s, when his guitar was a central component of Dylan’s new rock sound on “Like a Rolling Stone.” He then founded the Electric Flag, recorded Super Session with Al Kooper, backed Janis Joplin, and released at least twenty other albums despite debilitating substance abuse. This book, based on extensive interviews with Bloomfield himself and with those who knew him best, and including an extensive discography and Bloomfield’s memorable 1968 Rolling Stone interview, is an intimate portrait of one of the pioneers of rock guitar.

Children love learning about special days and celebrating them with arts and crafts. Skipping the typical green shamrocks, orange paper pumpkins, and red doily hearts, Kids Celebrate! lists 100 days to remember with 200 related activities for children and grown-ups. There’s a Hansel and Gretel walk for Jakob Grimm’s birthday, a Mexican fiesta for Cinco de Mayo, and a first aid kit to make in honor of Clara Barton’s Birthday. The significance of each special day is explained in this educational tribute to the holidays, history, and accomplishments of many cultures and many people.