History made relevant.
A map-based view of American history.
Opening with a carefully shaded, watercolor-and–colored pencil depiction of a green-and-blue Earth, Thermes, a map illustrator, describes how early humans “moved across the land and around the world in search of animals and plants to eat, fresh water to drink, and safe shelter to rest—as living creatures do.” These themes persist throughout as she focuses on how methods of survival become multilayered systems of oppression. It’s as if Howard Zinn wrote a children’s book—instead of focusing on presidents and other White men, Thermes demonstrates how Indigenous people, African Americans, and immigrants form the foundation and framework of American history. Describing the founding of the United States, she writes, “European colonizers came to North America and struggled over who could claim the Native peoples’ homelands as their own.” Devoting a full spread to U.S. territories like Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the author/illustrator names the Indigenous peoples who still live there. Far too often history classes for children relegate Black, Indigenous, and immigrant history to side units, but this book can—and should—replace any text that doesn’t rightfully center those narratives. One flaw is that the work skips over everything between 1965 and 2001 (including the AIDS crisis), but this is nevertheless a necessary addition to any educational institution or the personal library of any kid who wants to “work toward a better future for all who live upon the land.”
History made relevant. (afterword, selected sources, timeline) (Informational picture book. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781419743894
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
PERSPECTIVES
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Essential.
A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”
Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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