Harrowing, yes—and inspiring.
The harrowing real-life stories of three girls who turned their experiences as sex-trafficked children into a fight to destroy the practice.
This set of brief biographies opens with 9-year-old Somaly Mam in Cambodia around 1979. Sold to a brothel by her ostensible caretaker, Somaly experiences rape, beatings, starvation and punishment—she is covered in snakes and sewage. Her torments may seem alien to some readers, at least partly due to inadequate contextualization of Cambodia’s historical moment (the immediate aftermath of genocide). It’s therefore useful that the next story is Minh Dang’s in 1990s California; her parents force her into prostitution when she’s only 10. Her story seems otherwise so commonplace American (she plays soccer, gets A’s in school, and is expected to attend and graduate from college) that the overlap between her experiences and Somaly’s seems that much more horrific. The final biography is of Maria Suarez, a Mexican immigrant who’s kidnapped, forced into a sexual relationship with an older man, arrested after his death, imprisoned for two decades and nearly deported on her eventual release. The girls’ stories could be too devastating to read save for each tale’s conclusion, detailing the efforts these women have made to rescue girls and eliminate childhood slavery. Minh Dang is upset when people speak of her as an inhumanly brave heroine; the focus here on activism after suffering may be enough to show the women as people, not victims.
Harrowing, yes—and inspiring. (glossary, resources, afterword) (Nonfiction. 14-17)Pub Date: June 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4380-0453-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Barron's
Review Posted Online: April 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In 1910, Pascal D’Angelo and his father left the harsh Abruzzi region of Italy to escape its impossible poverty and journey to the United States; Pascal was 16 years old. Murphy, a graceful narrator of history, presents the life of the peasant as he journeyed through life in the new country. He never became wealthy or even comfortable, but did leave an impression with his poetry—and this from a man who became literate in English as an adult, largely self-taught (and librarians will be delighted to know that they helped him). D’Angelo also wrote an autobiography, Son of Italy, relating to life as an immigrant and the hard—largely pick-and-shovel—work he did to earn a scant living. Such a telling should resonate when readers think about why people come to a new country where they do not speak the language, do not know the customs, and too often are alone, even (or especially) today. The protagonist does not come through as a sharp personality; he is somewhat shadowy against the times and places of his life. He stands out as a symbol rather than a full person. But his accomplishments are certainly large. Archival photos are interesting but sometimes captions are non-indicative; what do they mean? When and where were they taken? There are two photos of D’Angelo. As usual, Murphy provides details that help set the story. A biography of a common man that is also the history of a civilization and its times. (index and bibliography) (Biography. 9-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2000
ISBN: 0-395-77610-4
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A superfluous offering.
A young readers’ adaptation of Batchelor’s 2017 profile of the same name for adult readers, co-publishing with a new version of the adult original.
Along with lightly massaging his text, the author adds a chapter that takes the Marvel universe story up to Lee’s death in 2018 and details the horrific elder abuse that marked his last years. Taking an evenhanded stance on the ugly squabbles that developed between Lee and artists like Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko over who played just what roles in developing the foundational Marvel characters, he nonetheless perceptively argues that Lee’s distinctive voice was his greatest contribution because it created and, over decades, established a uniquely human, flawed superhero archetype. But he makes more debatable claims too, for example, about the vast extent of Marvel’s cultural influence, and sometimes assumes the role of apologist, as when he soft-pedals the sexism of projects like Savage She-Hulk and Stripperella. Problematically in terms of audience appeal, Batchelor stuffs his account of Lee’s career trajectory from office boy to international icon with more than enough minor detail about sales figures, corporate maneuvering, marketing deals, failed publications, personnel shifts, and the like to glaze the eyes of most fans. Readers who really can’t get enough about the comics biz will gravitate anyway to the marginally longer edition for adults.Nine drawings of Lee and associates and a scanty selection of photos and covers offer inadequate visual relief from the densely packed pages.
A superfluous offering. (notes, index) (Biography. 14-16)Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5381-6205-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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