Incisive, personal, and usefully reworked.
A pared-down version of the writer, filmmaker, and Olympic athlete’s journeys through childhood, adolescence, and adult depression.
“Run like a bravey / sleep like a baby / dream like a crazy / replace can’t with maybe.” With inspirational poems slipped between and occasionally within chapters, Greek American Pappas’ inwardly focused memoir takes her from her mother’s suicide when she was 4 through recovery from the clinical depression and anxiety that descended in the wake of her record-breaking 10,000-meter race in the 2016 Olympic Games. Most of the graphic language and descriptions in the 2021 adult original have been edited out, and there are some new or thoroughly reworked passages along with the addition of a new foreword by actor Maya Hawke and summary insights at each chapter’s end. These changes have the effect of purposely refocusing the work on themes of particular relevance for adolescent readers, such as navigating childhood with a supportive but laissez-faire single parent, choosing role models, setting goals (specifically, but not exclusively, athletic ones), and working toward them without burning out or incurring permanent injury. The author barely mentions her films, her Olympics experiences, or any other specific biographical events unless they bear directly on some point she’s making. She writes clearly and forcefully about what helped her, and could help young readers, carry on in the face of trauma, sexism, and other challenges.
Incisive, personal, and usefully reworked. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9780593562741
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A remarkable biography.
The story of a flawed, complicated man.
The son of a distant Minnesota congressman and a demanding, well-educated mother, young Charles Lindbergh grew up shuttling among the family farm, his grandfather’s Detroit home, and Washington, D.C. Intelligent but uninterested in school, he began flying at age 19, getting involved in barnstorming and becoming an Air Service Reserve Corps officer. He used a combination of mechanical aptitude and moxie to successfully cross the Atlantic in a 1927 solo nonstop flight and was instantly propelled into worldwide celebrity. Success came at tremendous cost, however, when his infant son was kidnapped and murdered. Lindbergh was also his own enemy: His infatuation with eugenics led him into overt racism, open admiration for Hitler, and public denunciation of Jews. Fallen from grace, he nonetheless flew 50 clandestine combat missions in the South Pacific. He became an advocate for animal conservation but also had three secret families in addition to his acknowledged one. Fleming (Eleanor Roosevelt's in My Garage!, 2018, etc.) expertly sources and clearly details a comprehensive picture of a well-known, controversial man. Her frequent use of diaries allows much of the story to come through in Charles’ and his wife Anne’s own words. The man who emerges is hateable, pitiable, and admirable all at the same time, and this volume measures up to the best Lindbergh biographies for any audience.
A remarkable biography. (bibliography, source notes, picture credits, index) (Biography. 12-adult)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-64654-9
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way.
Navigating high school is hard enough, let alone when your parents are CIA spies.
In this graphic memoir, U.S. citizen Glock shares the remarkable story of a childhood spent moving from country to country; abiding by strange, secretive rules; and the mystery of her parents’ occupations. By the time she reaches high school in an unspecified Central American nation—the sixth country she’s lived in—she’s begun to feel the weight of isolation and secrecy. After stealing a peek at a letter home to her parents from her older sister, who is attending college in the States, the pieces begin to fall into place. Normal teenage exploration and risk-taking, such as sneaking out to parties and flirtations with boys, feel different when you live and go to school behind locked gates and kidnapping is a real risk. This story, which was vetted by the CIA, follows the author from childhood to her eventual return to a home country that in many ways feels foreign. It considers the emotional impact of familial secrets and growing up between cultures. The soft illustrations in a palette of grays and peaches lend a nostalgic air, and Glock’s expressive faces speak volumes. This is a quiet, contemplative story that will leave readers yearning to know more and wondering what intriguing details were, of necessity, edited out. Glock and many classmates at her American school read as White; other characters are Central American locals.
A truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story about a lost soul finding her way. (Graphic memoir. 13-18)Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-316-45898-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2021
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