by Lisa Thomas-McMillan ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 11, 2015
A somewhat scattered but ultimately heartwarming story of fighting for justice.
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This debut memoir about Thomas-McMillan’s campaigns to raise awareness of hunger and abolish the death penalty also serves as a practical guide to volunteerism.
Thomas-McMillan’s was a large African-American family in rural Alabama. She roots her devotion to community service in one seemingly tiny event: she helped her grandmother with some household chores and refused pay for it. From then on, she recalls, “I was a joy junkie. I was hooked on that warm, fuzzy feeling you get when you have recognized another person’s value, not with words but with a small token of kindness.” For example, while walking home from her grandparents’ house at age 12, she waved and smiled at a Cadillac coming down the street; the passengers, a middle-aged white couple, stopped to thank her for her friendliness and gave her a half-dollar. A college dropout, Thomas-McMillan bounced between various jobs in California before a severe earthquake prompted her move back to Alabama. For the past 17 years, she has committed her meager resources to combatting hunger by donating meals to the elderly and college students through her nonprofit food bank. Equally opposed to capital punishment, Thomas-McMillan completed several awareness-raising treks, including a two-month walk to Washington, D.C., in 2005. Her Southern upbringing is enlivened by funny, folksy stories, a pattern she continues in Part 2—the book’s highlight—comprising journal entries from the road to Washington. While averaging 15 to 20 miles a day, she was plagued by dogs, snakes, and the breakdown of her support van. By punctuating her thoughts with radio song lyrics and ending each entry with short prayers or Bible verses, she creates the feeling of a modern-day religious pilgrimage. A short third section of additional information on Thomas-McMillan’s work with the Innocence Project might have been combined with Part 1, while Part 4 is full of pithy, unnecessary anecdotes about people she has helped, such as “Peanut Brittle Man.” The acts of kindness might be random, but the book’s structure need not be; it’s too long and tails off, though the epilogue contains useful tips on where to start helping.
A somewhat scattered but ultimately heartwarming story of fighting for justice.Pub Date: May 11, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-885091-08-6
Page Count: -
Publisher: Eco-Busters
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
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by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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