The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • E10

Filename: E10-LIVING-AJCD0326-AJCD created: Mar 25 2008 Username: SPEED4 Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008 LIVING 1 0 AJCD 1 0 Cyan Magenta Yellow Black E1 0 Wednesday, March 26, 2008 4 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ajc.com 1 0 Cyan Magenta Yellow Black AJCD File name: E10-LIVING-AJCD0326-AJCD created: Mar 25 2008 Username: SPEED4 tion of people in she said. But the production, Martin said, is not a razzmatazz musical, although a song by the young male stars called Join The is accompanied by an exuberant dance number. general the songs are more organic in she said. Martin said one of her favorite parts of the show is when the character who plays Mammy NaTasha Yvette Williams, the daughter of a preacher sings a song called Child Wants to be Martin says her aim is not just ried to an abusive man. He left me, and I had to take care of my family.

felt I had walked inside she said. While in her 20s, Martin lifted herself out of poverty by working at a organization before going on to purchase and renovate distressed properties in Los Angeles. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Martin enrolled in college at the age of 33. She went on to earn a doctorate in public health from UCLA in 1998 before deciding that what she really wanted to do was write a musical. American dreams lived the American dream in such spectacular fashion that even named her middle child always been fascinated by the dreams on which America is founded and one reason so painful for me to see how far America has sunk in the estima Catherine Ashmore The cast of With the Wind: The includes Darius Danesh (from left) as Rhett, Jill Paice as Scarlett and actor Edward Baker-Duly as Ashley Wilkes.

Musical: Playwright felt she walked inside project after reading an interview with the British director in which he expressed a passion for Civil War history and civil rights. Although she grew up on the Hawaiian island of Oahu as the daughter of a choral conductor, Martin knows something of racial tensions in the South. In the summer of 1965 she accompanied her mother to Greenville, to help register black children for the then-new Head Start program. stayed there in the home of a single black grandmother raising a few grandchildren and a few other children as she said. my mother working alongside her to help clean up a mess that of their own making has been a touchstone for Martin said she was drawn to the similarly strong female characters in book.

In particular, Martin sees a lot of Scarlett in herself. other thing that brought me to the project is that, like Scarlett, I have three she said. had my child at 17. I was a battered teenage mom mar Continued from 1 to entertain, but also to send a powerful message. hoping that this production reminds Americans that lived through more bitterly polarized periods in the past and learned then the value of coming together and toning down the incendiary she said.

hoping it reminds Americans to focus on all that unites us rather than all that divides she said. a tall order for a show likely to be seen by a lot more Britons than Americans. But, if successful, Martin said the production would move to New York within 18 to 24 months. For now, Martin said having the time of her life in London. I been that religious, but more recently learned to be a person of deep she said.

come to really depend on a higher power and feel that been called to do this PRODUCTION NOTES With the Wind: The will be staged at the New London Theatre, the same theater where played for 21 years. Scarlett will be played by American Jill Paice, who appeared as Laura Fairlie in director Trevor production of Woman in and whose credits also include and Rhett will be played by the Glasgow-born singer and actor Darius Danesh, a former of singing competition, the forerunner to In all, a cast of 32 actors will be playing about 100 roles. Atlas for Young (National Geographic Society, 192 pages, National new atlas is way more than a bunch of maps. Filled with the world-class photographs for which National Geographic is known, the atlas explains how to use maps and includes facts about the planet and the physical world, focusing on different aspects of nature, the environment and oceans. The political world section delves into how humans live on the planet.

The atlas is fascinating in how it shows us interacting with the environment. a photo of people in Oswego, N.Y., digging out from a major lake-effect snowstorm. a picture of villagers in Mauritania in Africa shoveling sand away from a schoolhouse, to explain a book to have on hand for those reports that crop up in grade on, say Uruguay or Zimbabwe, that your child forgot to tell you about six weeks ago when they were assigned. Recommended ages: 5 to adult. Journey: Stories of By Cynthia Rylant and illustrated by Lambert Davis (Blue Sky Press, 48 pages, creatures live out their lives in the places where they are born.

The tiny mouse runs in the where his mother ran. But there are some creatures who do not stay where they are born, who cannot stay. These are creatures who This book is about some seriously restless creatures, including locusts, whales, eels, and caribou. Some animals even migrate as far as 6,000 miles. not only offers insight into animal behavior, it illustrates the diversity of the environments these creatures occupy and the scope of our planet.

Recommended ages: 4 to 8. ENGAGE NATURE By DONNA LIQUORI Albany (N.Y.) Times Union With arrival, kids get outdoors more and are more active. When winding down from all that, you can send their imaginations out to play with these books about the natural world. also learn a lot since the books are mostly nonction, and are tantalizing enough to lure them away from the TV and computer games. LIVING Closely Through the By Frank (Kids Can Press, 40 pages, This engaging and interactive book features periscope-type close-ups of various natural objects.

very the book urges. do you see? Is it lizard tongues? Flickering What could it This book makes the forest friendlier. The crisp photographs are mesmerizing and tricky. Adams said you could discover a whole worth of images in a 6-square-foot patch of writes in his note. order to do so, you have to look very Recommended ages: 4 to 7.

Dirt on By Paulette Bourgeois and illustrated by Martha Newbigging. (Kids Can Press, 48 pages, As the weather warms, many kids will start going barefoot, like the person on the cover of this book, showing off two very, very dirty feet. Kids can use this one to conduct with experiments such as making compost and replicating the movement of earthquakes. Other dirt facts include what causes quicksand and a true story about a mysterious shaft in Nova Scotia rigged to prevent fortune hunters from getting to the supposed pirate treasure. Recommended ages: 8 to 12.

Books will get kids interested in plants and animals.