A testament to the power of pursuing one’s dreams despite forced displacement.
Syrian athlete Yusra Mardini overcame countless setbacks on her path to the Olympics.
A talented swimmer, young Yusra was trained by her father and by 14 had made her mark, representing Syria in international competitions. But her world changed when war broke out. With schools closing and bombs falling on Damascus, Yusra’s family made the difficult decision to send her and her sister to flee with relatives to Germany. The sisters embarked on a tumultuous voyage by air, sea, and land. Crossing from Turkey to Greece on an overcrowded boat with a failing engine, Yusra and her sister displayed great bravery as they leapt into rough waters, grabbed the boat’s ropes, and pulled everyone to safety. Despite yet more challenges ahead, Yusra eventually achieved her dream of swimming in the Olympics. Beautiful, textured watercolor and gouache illustrations add a compelling emotional dimension to Yusra’s incredible journey. Overall, this is a well-told story, but some readers may find several moments slightly confusing—notably, why war broke out and why countries closed their borders. Backmatter offers more context, as well as a timeline of Yusra’s journey and a map, though readers seeking more concrete information on the origins of the war should look elsewhere.
A testament to the power of pursuing one’s dreams despite forced displacement. (author’s and illustrator’s notes) (Picture-book biography. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781645679837
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Page Street
Review Posted Online: Sept. 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2023
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Quick and slick, but ably makes its case.
The distinguished jurist stands tall as a role model.
Not literally tall, of course—not only was she actually tiny but, as with all the other bobbleheaded caricatures in the “Ordinary People Change the World” series, Ginsburg, sporting huge eyeglasses on an outsize head over black judicial robes even in childhood, remains a doll-like figure in all of Eliopoulos’ cartoon scenes. It’s in the frank acknowledgment of the sexism and antisemitism she resolutely overcame as she went from reading about “real female heroes” to becoming one—and also the clear statement of how she so brilliantly applied the principle of “tikkun olam” (“repairing the world”) in her career to the notion that women and men should have the same legal rights—that her stature comes clear. For all the brevity of his profile, Meltzer spares some attention for her private life, too (“This is Marty. He loved me, and he loved my brains. So I married him!”). Other judicial activists of the past and present, all identified and including the current crop of female Supreme Court justices, line up with a diversely hued and abled group of younger followers to pay tribute in final scenes. “Fight for the things you care about,” as a typically savvy final quote has it, “but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Quick and slick, but ably makes its case. (timeline, photos, source list, further reading) (Picture-book biography. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780593533338
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
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