How Emily Saved the Bridge by Frieda Wishinsky

(index, timeline, resource lists) (Nonfiction. Utilitarian, at best-but more likely to dim reader interest than kindle it. Other new entries in the All About America series deal similarly with Explorers, Trappers, and Pioneers, A Nation of Immigrants and Stagecoaches and Railroads. The single, tiny map has no identifying labels. The design is packed with overlapping, misleadingly seamless and rarely differentiated mixes of small, heavily trimmed contemporary prints or (later) photos and drab reconstructions of workshop or factory scenes, along with pictures of significant inventions and technological innovations (which are, in several cases, reduced to background design elements). This survey of the growth of industries in this country from the Colonial period to the post–World War II era is written in the driest of textbook-ese: “Factories needed good transportation so that materials could reach them and so that materials could reach buyers” “The metal iron is obtained by heating iron ore” “In 1860, the North said that free men, not slaves, should do the work.” This text is supplemented by a jumble of narrative-overview blocks, boxed side observations and terse captions on each thematic spread. Shot through with vague generalities and paired to a mix of equally generic period images and static new art, this overview remorselessly sucks all the juice from its topic.

(additional facts, suggested reading, sources, author’s note) Oddly, Emily (white, as are the Roeblings) is depicted throughout with a very red nose and heavily rouged cheeks.Ī strong and honest homage to a remarkable woman.

Nelson’s lively, colorful illustrations combine digital collage incorporating contemporary photos with cartoon drawings complete with imagined dialogue in speech balloons. An unnamed modern woman of color introducing Emily’s spirit and determination to her child narrates the tale in accessible, conversational syntax, including her accomplishments in later life when she became a lawyer and wrote of equal rights for women. She was certainly not an unsung heroine and was given the honor of being the first to cross the completed bridge. He continued to oversee the project while Emily became its de facto engineer, learning along the way, directing workers on-site and winning their respect, and coping with every aspect of construction. During construction, John died as the result of an accident, and Washington developed caisson disease and was so disabled that he couldn’t walk or stand. After graduation she married engineer Washington Roebling, who, with his father, John, faced the challenge of designing and building a suspension bridge to connect Manhattan and Brooklyn. Her older brother enrolled her in a school where she studied sciences, mathematics, history, and more. In mid-19th-century America, Emily Warren’s desire to learn was considered an anomaly.īut she had the support of her family.

How Emily Saved the Bridge by Frieda Wishinsky