TITLE: Brooklyn BridgeAUTHOR: Lynn Curlee
STARTED: June 4, 2009
FINISHED: June 4, 2009
PAGES: 40
GENRE: Juvenile
FIRST SENTENCE: Suspended in midair more than 100 feet above New York's East River, the span of the Brooklyn Bridge arcs gracefully from shore to shore.
SUMMARY: [From barnesandnoble.com] "It so happens that the work which is likely to be our most durable monument, and to convey some knowledge of us to the most remote posterity, is a work of bare utility; not a shrine, not a fortress, but a bridge."
So wrote one architectural critic of the Brooklyn Bridge, one of the grandest and most eloquent monuments to the American spirit that our country has produced. Its magnificent site, breathtaking span, cutting-edge technology, and sheer beauty have made it the subject of poems, paintings, photographs, novels, plays, and movies.
Beneath the Brooklyn Bridge's triumphant arches lie astonishing tales of death, deception, genius, and daring. Over the fourteen-year course of its construction, there were many deaths, including that of John A. Roebling, designer and chief engineer; an underwater fire; and even fraud.
Finally, though, the bridge was finished, and as part of the opening day festivities, the president, and two mayors crossed it.
In this stunning visual history, Lynn Curlee tells the fascinating story of the history and construction of the "Eighth Wonder of the World."THOUGHTS: I lived in New York (the state, not the city) for ten years and I never knew the history of the Brooklyn Bridge. Curlee writes a straight forward story about the famous spanner from its inception to today. The text is clear enough that a person with no background in engineering and/or architecture (me!) can understand how the bridge was built. Her illustrations are simple and clear, drawn with thick lines, big blocks of color, and an architect's eye.
RATING: 7/10 [Very Good]
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