Skip to main content

The Diamond and the Boy

Image
By


The Diamond and the Boy: The Creation of Diamonds & the Life of H. Tracy Hall 
By Hannah Holt
Illustrated by Jay Fleck
Balzer + Bray, an Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2018. Picture Book Nonfiction.

This unique story tells of two events: first of all it tells how a diamond is made, second it tells about the life of H. Tracy Hall—who happened to be the one who invented the process to create man-made diamonds. Because the two events are told simultaneously, it shows how a lot of heat, pressure, and difficulties help to form diamonds and also helped to shape Hall’s life. For example, in the first stages of making a diamond “heat seeps through the earth’s mantle where the continents collide, making the rock bend sweat weep.” On the opposite page there is a picture of Hall when a boy hiding in an air vent and the text reads, “Heat blows through the air vent at school where he hides from bullies, making Tracy bend sweat weep.” By showing the harsh realities of how a diamond is made alongside the difficulties that Hall had growing up, kids can learn more about the value of diamonds due to how they are formed or shaped—and along the way they will learn the same thing about Hall. Also, as an added note Hall lived in Provo, Utah. So this biography might have even more interest to those who live in our area. This book is a good look at a geological gem as well as a native Utahan who became a great inventor.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Faker

By
Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...
Post a Comment
Read more