Florence Nightingale

Starred review from October 3, 2016
Best recognized for her work during the Crimean War, Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) receives full credit for her most far-reaching accomplishment in this lucid, handsomely designed volume: transforming nursing from an unsavory profession for women into a respectable one. Veteran biographer Reef (Noah Webster: Man of Many Words) provides abundant background on Nightingale’s family and the Victorian era, making vividly clear how revolutionary her work was. (Prior to Nightingale’s insistence that dirty bandages, putrid water, and foul food had no place in a hospital, eight of nine British soldier deaths were due to disease, rather than wounds.) Drawing extensively on primary sources, Reef reveals Nightingale’s complex character—highly intelligent and inquisitive, demanding, irascible, and driven by her belief in God’s work—and does not minimize the impact of her ambitions and expectations on her family and colleagues. Reef sharply delineates Nightingale’s enormous suffering for her refusal to follow convention while celebrating her lesser-known achievements: founding the first secular nurse-training school, advising government leaders on topics of health and social welfare, and applying statistics to medical analysis. Archival photos and illustrations further contextualize Nightingale’s life, work, and era. Ages 12–up.

This complex portrait of the "Lady with the Lamp" offers an insightful look into the remarkable life and work of Florence Nightingale and the times in which she lived. Nightingale was born into a privileged life to enlightened parents who embraced formal education for women and intellectual curiosity. Her parents were less than forward-thinking about her desire to pursue a nursing career, however. Through this struggle and attention to Nightingale's relationships with women, Reef reveals how her subject defied the rigid conventions of Victorian society and the expectations of women. Reef is honest about Nightingale's faults. She was cold and demanding of her underlings, insisting upon total obedience. Conversely, she had boundless compassion and mercy for the suffering. Her ambition and controlling personality led her to campaign to be placed in charge of all nursing services in the Crimea. Nightingale is best known for her work during the Crimean War, when she vastly improved gruesome and lethal conditions, dramatically reducing the mortality rate for soldiers. Her modern methods in nursing became defining standards still used today. This legacy receives generous attention, but it is the other aspects of her life Reef covers that make this a complete, nuanced biography. A vividly written, richly layered portrait of a fascinating woman whose life and work influenced and inspired many. (photos, source notes, bibliography) (Biography. 12-18) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2016

Gr 7 Up-Born into a wealthy English family in 1820, Florence Nightingale was expected to marry and tend to the home. Nightingale, however, had different ideas and felt that she had been called to action by God. Reef's meticulously researched biography chronicles Nightingale's remarkable achievements. Her revolutionary approach to nursing impacted all aspects of English society, from soldiers in the army to the impoverished people suffering in workhouse infirmaries. By placing Nightingale's life within the context of the Victorian era-a time of great colonial expansion as well as economic and scientific change-Reef highlights her subject's unique single-minded drive to work and make a difference for the sick and infirm, despite the many obstacles she faced as a woman. Nightingale became famous during the Crimean War when she spent two years with a team of nurses under her direction caring for wounded and ill soldiers. However, her reform work began long before the war and continued until her death at age 90. VERDICT With accessible language, a linear story line, and photographs interspersed throughout, this is a great addition to any library. Recommended for students writing reports and others who want to learn about the remarkable "Lady with the Lamp."-Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from June 1, 2016
Grades 7-10 *Starred Review* With special attention to detail and engaging prose, Reef chronicles the life of the mother of modern nursing. Raised in England with a governess and her own father as a tutor, Florence displayed a curiosity for the workings of the natural world, even keeping a catalog of illnesses that beset her family. Though her parents turned up their noses at the idea of her entering nursingat the time run by religious orders and in dirty, disgusting hospitalsFlorence was determined. Studying reports of hospitals and health care and taking trips to visit hospitals overseas paid off, as Florence was given oversight of nurses for British forces in the Crimean War. Journalists covering the war brought back news to the homeland of this mysterious Lady with the Lamp. Suddenly, she was famousthough insistent that these popular images hardly represent the exhausting work of nursing. Perhaps most fascinating and relatable for young readers is Florence's tumultuous relationship with her sister, Parthenope, which softened only with her fame. Budding scientists will enjoy seeing the changing theories about contagion, such as the later-debunked miasma theory, of which Florence was a staunch believer. Portraits, drawings, and other ephemera immerse readers in mid-nineteenth-century Europe. A captivating and inspiring study of one woman's perseverance and the good that came from it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)