Nevertheless, Bair offers young readers an informed, insightful look into a crisis that continues to affect millions of...
An insider’s perspective on the causes of America’s recent financial crisis and its ongoing consequences.
The financial crisis that began in 2008 resulted in thousands of families losing their homes, millions losing their jobs and life savings, and over 100,000 businesses going bankrupt. During her five-year tenure as head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the author was intimately involved in the government’s efforts to avert a catastrophic collapse of the U.S. economy. She chronicles the many ways in which a broken economic system led families into financial trouble and explains how the terrible decisions made at the time by CEOs of multinational banks and heads of government regulatory committees led to the Great Recession. She paints a graphic, disturbing portrait of privileged power brokers who, even in the face of national disaster, put themselves and their cronies ahead of the common good. Prefacing each chapter, in which she explains clearly and concisely such difficult economic concepts as “mortgage originators” and “securitization,” are fictional vignettes showing how young people’s lives are affected. Losing a home forces one family to surrender a beloved pet to a shelter. Another family struggles to pay for food and medicine. These vignettes are the weakest parts of the book, sometimes even distracting from the important factual information.
Nevertheless, Bair offers young readers an informed, insightful look into a crisis that continues to affect millions of citizens of all ages. (financial terms, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: April 14, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4814-0085-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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