Though Curran's account of faith and perseverance is somewhat unfocused, readers will appreciate her overarching point:...
Curran, Miss Iowa 2008, tells how she became the first major pageant contestant with a disability.
Growing up in a close-knit Illinois farm family, Curran always wanted to enter beauty pageants. However, cerebral palsy caused her to limp, which caused teasing that eroded her confidence—but not for long. Curran cheerfully describes growing up with leg braces and doting grandparents as well as tough love, then traces a rambling road to competing in the Miss USA pageant, founding her Miss You Can Do It pageant for girls with disabilities, and entering nursing school. Exciting events pass with little scenery—the pageants themselves, TV appearances, and even an interview by John Hockenberry. Unfortunately, because Curran touches on people and events so quickly, some comments come off as patronizing or glib—as if all discouragement vanished easily, a wheelchair signified "a helpless invalid," or a trailer were shameful. However, these comments fade in a whirl of pageant butterflies, wardrobe malfunctions, and the challenge of walking in heels, which Curran handles with aplomb. Debunking myths about pageant participants, she praises the sisterhood she found and the hope pageants give "[her] girls," a happy ending to a tale of accomplishment.
Though Curran's account of faith and perseverance is somewhat unfocused, readers will appreciate her overarching point: "discover what makes you happy, and then act on what you've learned." (Memoir. 11-18)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236391-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2015
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author.
Deaf, trans artist Man meditates on his journey and identity in this brief memoir.
Growing up in conservative central Pennsylvania was tough for the 21-year-old Deaf, genderqueer, pansexual, and biracial (Chinese/White Jewish) author. He describes his gender and sexual identity, his experiences of racism and ableism, and his desire to use his visibility as a YouTube personality, model, and actor to help other young people like him. He is open and vulnerable throughout, even choosing to reveal his birth name. Man shares his experiences of becoming deaf as a small child and at times feeling ostracized from the Deaf community but not how he arrived at his current Deaf identity. His description of his gender-identity development occasionally slips into a well-worn pink-and-blue binary. The text is accompanied and transcended by the author’s own intriguing, expressionistic line drawings. However, Man ultimately falls short of truly insightful reflection or analysis, offering a mostly surface-level account of his life that will likely not be compelling to readers who are not already fans. While his visibility and success as someone whose life represents multiple marginalized identities are valuable in themselves, this heartfelt personal chronicle would have benefited from deeper introspection.
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22348-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style....
As she does in previous volumes—Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (2008) and The Grammar Devotional (2009)—Fogarty affects an earnest and upbeat tone to dissuade those who think a grammar book has to be “annoying, boring, and confusing” and takes on the role of “grammar guide, intent on demystifying grammar.”
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style. Fogarty works hard to find amusing, even cheeky examples to illustrate the many faux pas she discusses: "Squiggly presumed that Grammar Girl would flinch when she saw the word misspelled as alot." Young readers may well look beyond the cheery tone and friendly cover, though, and find a 300+-page text that looks suspiciously schoolish and isn't really that different from the grammar texts they have known for years (and from which they have still not learned a lot of grammar). As William Strunk said in his introduction to the first edition of the little The Elements of Style, the most useful grammar guide concentrates attention “on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.” After that, “Students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work.” By being exhaustive, Fogarty may well have created just the kind of volume she hoped to avoid.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8943-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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