Tag: review

Home > ArchivesTag: review

GREEN PROMISES: GIRLS WHO LOVED THE EARTH by JEANNINE ATKINS—A REVIEW BY VERONICA JORGE

April 22, 2025 by in category Write From the Heart by Veronica Jorge tagged as , , , ,

GREEN PROMISES: GIRLS WHO LOVED THE EARTH

JEANNINE ATKINS
Atheneum Books For Young Readers
2025
ISBN 978-1-6659-50572

Buy from Apple Books
Buy from Kobo
Buy from IndieBound
Buy from Google Play
Buy from Books-A-Million
Buy from Barnes and Noble
Buy from Amazon

I can’t think of a better way to welcome Spring and celebrate Earth Day than with a new book, especially one about nature and the earth, and following after Women’s History Month.

In Green Promises: Girls Who Loved the Earth, Jeannine Atkins delves into the lives and achievements of two extraordinary women who made significant discoveries and important contributions to our knowledge of nature and the Earth.

Like many young people of her time, (Mary) Agnes Chase, (1869-1963), left school in eighth grade to help support her family. But it was her skill at drawing plants that distinguished her and earned her a position at the Smithsonian Institution. Agnes published more than seventy scientific works, and went on to become the first woman president of the Botanical Society Of America.

Marguerite Thomas Williams (1895-1991), focused on the way rivers shape the land and the ways that people shape the rivers. She discovered that floods happen when rivers try to be where they belong but their space has been taken. Yet we can change the course of a river by planting more trees and grasses with roots that hold the earth. Those same tree roots serve to filter the water and hold the riverbanks in place. “Like memory, the river moves forward while trying to hold where it came from.” Marguerite became the first African-American to earn a PhD in geology.

The book, written in verse, with informative and lyrical language invites us to take a closer look at the natural world around us.

Pick up a rock and examine it. Rocks hold clues to changes in climate and have stories to tell.

Take a walk and feel the earth beneath your feet, accepting that “land matters because everyone needs a place to stand.”

“History is like a river. No one can see it all at once.” Though you might not feel it, the Earth is turning while no one is watching. So, every day, every moment, keep looking. You don’t want to miss the wonder!

While you may not like math or science, this book may persuade you to interact with them and give them a chance to tell their stories. Let math show you the beauty of building connections that take you beyond numbers. And science, as Marguerite says, “is a quiet way to love the world.”

Jeannine Atkins is the author of numerous critically acclaimed books for young readers, though adults will enjoy them as well. Some of her other titles include: Girls Who Looked Under Rocks: The Lives of Six Pioneering Naturalists; Finding Wonders: Three Girls Who Changed Science; Grasping Mysteries: Girls Who Loved Math; Stone Mirrors: The Sculpture and Silence of Edmonia Lewis.

Inspiring books to read and to give as gifts, I hope you will pick a few. You won’t be disappointed.

See you next time on May 22nd!

Veronica Jorge  

BLACK FOOD: STORIES, ART & RECIPES FROM ACROSS THE AFRICAN DIASPORA

INCIDENT AT SAN MIGUEL

Buy now!
INCIDENT AT SAN MIGUEL

REFUGEE

Buy now!
REFUGEE

THE WITCH WHISPERER

Buy now!
THE WITCH WHISPERER
UPROOTED: THE JAPANESE AMERICAN EXPERIENCE DURING WORLD WAR II

THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

Buy now!
THE ORPHANS OF BERLIN

DISTANT RELATIONS

Buy now!
DISTANT RELATIONS

FIVE BELLES TOO MANY

Buy now!
FIVE BELLES TOO MANY

THE ONLY ROAD

Buy now!
THE ONLY ROAD

THE LAST GOODNIGHT

Buy now!
THE LAST GOODNIGHT

MIGUEL’S BRAVE KNIGHT

Buy now!
MIGUEL’S BRAVE KNIGHT

FOUR CUTS TOO MANY

Buy now!
FOUR CUTS TOO MANY

FORGIVING MARIELA CAMACHO

Buy now!
FORGIVING MARIELA CAMACHO

FORGIVING STEPHEN REDMOND

Buy now!
FORGIVING STEPHEN REDMOND

FORGIVING MAXIMO ROTHMAN

Buy now!
FORGIVING MAXIMO ROTHMAN

MY FRIEND JACKSON

Buy now!
MY FRIEND JACKSON

THREE TREATS TOO MANY

Buy now!
THREE TREATS TOO MANY
SERIOUSLY, MOM, YOU DIDN’T KNOW?

SECRET RELATIONS

Buy now!
SECRET RELATIONS

TWO BITES TOO MANY

Buy now!
TWO BITES TOO MANY
#PLEASE SAY YES (#HermosafortheHolidays Book 1)

ONE TASTE TOO MANY

Buy now!
ONE TASTE TOO MANY

THE ALLIANCE

Buy now!
THE ALLIANCE

A DRAKENFALL CHRISTMAS

Buy now!
A DRAKENFALL CHRISTMAS
THE RELUCTANT GROOM AND OTHER HISTORICAL STORIES
THE DAY BAILEY DEVLIN PICKED UP A PENNY

THE SCRIBE OF SIENA

Buy now!
THE SCRIBE OF SIENA
THE DAY BAILEY DEVLIN’S HOROSCOPE CAME TRUE

SEVERED RELATIONS

Buy now!
SEVERED RELATIONS

FOREIGN RELATIONS

Buy now!
FOREIGN RELATIONS
WHEN PLANS GO AWRY

A BIRD WILL SOAR

Buy now!
A BIRD WILL SOAR

NEMESIS AND THE SWAN

Buy now!
NEMESIS AND THE SWAN

FLORES AND MISS PAULA

Buy now!
FLORES AND MISS PAULA

I AM FLAWSOME

Buy now!
I AM FLAWSOME

LA NOCHE BEFORE THREE KINGS DAY

Buy now!
LA NOCHE BEFORE THREE KINGS DAY

A SKY FULL OF SONG

Buy now!
A SKY FULL OF SONG
WITH OUR BELLIES FULL AND THE FIRE DYING: TALES OF SINNING AND REDEMPTION
GREEN PROMISES: GIRLS WHO LOVED THE EARTH
0 1 Read more

My First Audiobook Experience

January 12, 2019 by in category The Writing Journey by Denise Colby, Writing tagged as , ,
My first audiobook experience Denise M. Colby blog post at Slice of Orange

I know I know. I ‘m late to the party. Audiobooks have been around for a while now and I know several people who prefer listening to reading, due to several reasons. And for just those reasons I’ve been wanting to try out an audiobook.  I just hadn’t had a moment to sit down and figure out which book, which app and what I would do while I listened.  

Some have asked me why I don’t just play a CD in my car, but our CD player has been broken for years, and most of the time the radio is off as I’m picking up and dropping off kids and having conversations with the family. Rarely am I in my vehicle long enough to get into a chapter or even a scene while driving.

So, I finally asked a friend who listens to books all the time to help me out. That accountability helped me to commit to trying out this new way of “reading”.

I decided to try the new Libby app from my library.

I was giddy with glee when I selected a book. I mean my house was a mess and I planned to listen while folding laundry and cleaning up things with the goal of wowing my husband while getting in a good story. All good plans, right?

With loads of excitement and anticipation, I opened the file and pushed play….and immediately picked up something to look at. 

My first audiobook experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

My eyes could not, not look at something. They felt lost. They were so used to being the medium with which I take in and process information, they didn’t know what to do with themselves.  

I found it actually quite weird. 

And funny.  

So it took me a bit to get going.  

And as I kept going, I kept picking things up to look at and it would take me out of the story. So I had to learn to not take in things with my eyes. At one point I thought this might be a good sense stretcher for me in not being so dependent on my eyes. I tend to need to see something in order to remember it.

Listening is harder for me.  And this exercise confirmed it.

And then my mind couldn’t get used to the voice. It sounded completely different than how I read in my head. I’ll admit, since it’s my first one, I didn’t know if they all sounded like this or not, but I do know when I read, I say phrases differently. 

So that took some getting used to as well.

My first audiobook experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

The whole experience was not what I was expecting.

Quite frequently, I would get focused on my task and not quite hear the phrase read, but then I had no idea how to rewind. By the time I figured it out, the story had moved forward quite a bit, and I didn’t know how far back to go. I found myself not remembering the story as well, either. 

When I come across brilliant writing, I love to read over the passage a few times. Savor it. Let it sink in. Slow. Fast. It varies based on how my brain absorbs it.

Again, with listening, I was past the section before I knew what to do about it. I finally figured out I could tap my app and back up 10 seconds, and I tried the rewind a few times, but it just didn’t have the same affect for me. Also, I still felt challenged as my hands were busy while I was listening, and I found I couldn’t get to my phone fast enough. By the time I did, the story had moved on. Again.

But I felt I missed something. Deeply.

The first day, I got a good way into the story (and caught up with my laundry) and looked forward to the next session. But I found out that when you don’t have a habit you have to be very purposeful to keep doing it. I needed my headset handy, my phone charged, no one in need of anything and all of it to come together for me to connect again. It seemed the times I had available to listen, I couldn’t get those things all to line up together. It made it a bit challenging, but I persevered.

There were several things I noticed:  

My First Audiobook Experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

1. Showing me how much time I had left to listen to the book made it feel more daunting.

Like a chore.

When I read and tell myself, “Just one more chapter”, I may take a long time but I’m not really keeping track. But the app? It told me right there — you have four more hours!

And I already spent four hours already. That’s like me pointing out to my boys when they watch videos. “You spent 25 minutes on that one video? That’s 15 minutes you could be working on your homework or cleaning your room.”

Yep, that voice! It was now yelling at me!

My First Audiobook Experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on slice of orange

2. I’m a fast reader, but when I sped up the voice, it felt rushed to me. 

Which made me laugh out loud.

The voice didn’t get higher pitched. It was still quite clear. Which made it sound like speed listening. And alas, I couldn’t process as well, which leads into…

3. I found it harder to process through my ears.

I can read a book with my eyes and tune something out but still be able to hear things. I couldn’t hear anything else when I was concentrating on the story in my ears. I guess I’m not a verbal learner. Also I like the voice I hear in my head. I envision a certain sound and what it sounds like. But with audio, you end up with the voice of the book in your head and I felt it took away for me. Not the fault of the voice actor, just it was so new and different for me to get used to.

My First Audiobook Experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

4. I felt like I was purposely tuning everyone out, not to enjoy my book, but so I wouldn’t hear them. 

It’s hard to have a moments peace in my house.

The dog wants out, the kids are asking a question. Unless I was home alone, I really couldn’t put my headphones in and just listen and absorb the book.

Also, I mostly read at night before I go to bed. It felt funny to me to put my headphones in with my husband in the room. It was like I was purposely tuning him out.  Shouldn’t be a big deal but it felt like it was.

I really didn’t want to read another book while listening to this one, but there were times it was just easier to pick up a book.

So I did. Then one day I went to listen and the book had gone back to the library.  It had been three weeks already! And I wasn’t even half way through.  I borrowed the book again and was able to keep plodding along to the end.

All in all, it took me much longer to get through this book than when I read. And the amount of time spent was there right in front of me.

I realize now, I prefer not knowing how much time I spend reading. To me, that’s part of the magic of reading. You get lost. Time gets lost. There’s no one keeping track.

My first audiobook experience blog post by Denise M. Colby on Slice of Orange

All in all I found the experience enlightening. I will do it again at some point, but my first choice is still picking up a book and reading it with my eyes.


1 0 Read more

Copyright ©2017 A Slice of Orange. All Rights Reserved. ~PROUDLY POWERED BY WORDPRESS ~ CREATED BY ISHYOBOY.COM

>