Bound To Stay Bound

School Library Journal - 05/01/2014 Gr 7 Up—McCully expertly brings to life the story of a unique and determined woman in this well-written and thoroughly researched biography, filled with numerous and pertinent photographs. She places Tarbell's story into historical context, detailing how the country was just discovering the hidden wealth of oil and all the opportunities that came with it and how certain individuals were making shrewd business deals to guarantee large incomes. All of the corruption and secret machinations affected many citizens. Tarbell went where no one had gone before, becoming an investigative reporter for a top magazine. Though women were little respected at the time, she dove right into a man's world, exposing the somewhat shady side of John D. Rockefeller, head of the powerful Standard Oil Trust. As Tarbell's articles stirred public emotions, she grew more and more famous for her outspokenness and perseverance. Readers will not only get a feel for Tarbell, but they'll also get a sense of the changing world she inhabited.—Carol Hirsche, Provo City Library, UT - Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.

Booklist - 06/01/2014 *Starred Review* Born before the Civil War, Ida M. Tarbell had the intelligence, drive, and personality to carve out a career for herself in a man’s world, writing hard-hitting articles for McClure’s Magazine and becoming a pioneer in the field of investigative journalism. Having grown up in a Pennsylvania community that rose with the oil boom and suffered as a result of price fixing and other underhanded tactics, Tarbell understood the social costs of unsavory business practices. After a thorough investigation, she wrote a series of articles on the rise of Standard Oil and their devious methods of stifling competition. Her writing swayed public opinion and prompted public officials to act. In her first book for young adults, Caldecott medalist McCully shows a fine ability to organize material and present it in a lively, readable way. She deals head-on with the thorny topic of Tarbell’s opposition to women’s suffrage, perhaps one reason this intriguing, historically significant woman has been overlooked by other biographers for young people. McCully also places information about Tarbell within the broader context of her upbringing as well as the social norms and political forces that informed her choices. Illustrated with many period photos, this informative title brings Tarbell and her times into sharper focus for readers today. - Copyright 2014 Booklist.

Bulletin for the Center... - 09/01/2014 Turn-of-the-century journalist Ida Tarbell never set out to become a muckraker, and indeed that term, used pejoratively at the time, is not one she embraced. Young Ida wanted to be a naturalist, a career whose doors were pretty tightly closed even against women with considerable education. Her talent for clear, concise science writing, though, sent her on a path through the Chautauqua system and on to McClure’s Magazine, where she rose through staff positions and on to investigative journalism. Somewhat detached in tone-and in keeping with the reticence for personal revelation Tarbell exhibited in her autobiography-this reads more like an intellectual history than an intimate biography. McCully tacitly credits her readers with a fair amount of prior background knowledge on the Progressive Era and its major players, making this title a better choice for researchers than casual readers. As Tarbell makes her steady and frequently lonely progress as a nationally prominent writer, she’s continually upstaged here by her nemesis John D. Rockefeller; her boss Sam McClure; and of course the larger-than-life presence, Theodore Roosevelt. McCully frequently explains or apologizes for Tarbell’s rejection of women’s suffrage, an approach that would have gained more traction had this title focused more systematically on that issue. Nor is Tarbell’s investigative style compared with other contemporary women writers such as the redoubtable Nellie Bly, leaving McCully’s claim that “in her time, Ida M. Tarbell was the only woman doing investigative reporting” in sore need of defense. Nonetheless, McCully’s workmanlike narration and the generous inclusion of photographs will make this a useful overview for students examining the development of American journalism and the role of the press in the struggle to regulate big business. EB - Copyright 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois.

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