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EXPLORING ENGINEERING CAREERS

From the Career Quest series

A concise, information-packed overview with an emphasis on helpful practical advice.

Useful guidance for career-minded young makers who may wish to pursue engineering.

Folding in statistics on average salaries and projected growth rates, Morkes offers a broad overview of select pursuits covered by the umbrella term engineering—from spaceship, roller coaster, and software design to criminal forensics—and makes the cogent observation that not all of them require costly graduate degrees. To broaden the field’s appeal a bit further, he also points to the essential role of engineering in glamorous developing technologies, like virtual reality and artificial intelligence, and lists distinguished people, including a president (Herbert Hoover) and several astronauts (Mae Jemison, Ellen Ochoa, and Neil Armstrong), who trained as engineers. For readers who are already thinking seriously about turning themselves into attractive job candidates, the author provides a helpful set of questions to ask at informational interviews, identifies engineering organizations that have youth outreach programs, and evaluates the pros and cons of different training paths, including higher education, apprenticeships, and the military. Depicting a diverse cast in action, the stock color photos are scanty but relevant, and the backmatter features generous annotated lists of useful print and web resources.

A concise, information-packed overview with an emphasis on helpful practical advice. (glossary, source notes, bibliography, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2025

ISBN: 9798765684870

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner

Review Posted Online: May 30, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2025

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THE NEW QUEER CONSCIENCE

From the Pocket Change Collective series

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

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THEY CALLED US ENEMY

A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today.

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A beautifully heart-wrenching graphic-novel adaptation of actor and activist Takei’s (Lions and Tigers and Bears, 2013, etc.) childhood experience of incarceration in a World War II camp for Japanese Americans.

Takei had not yet started school when he, his parents, and his younger siblings were forced to leave their home and report to the Santa Anita Racetrack for “processing and removal” due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. The creators smoothly and cleverly embed the historical context within which Takei’s family’s story takes place, allowing readers to simultaneously experience the daily humiliations that they suffered in the camps while providing readers with a broader understanding of the federal legislation, lawsuits, and actions which led to and maintained this injustice. The heroes who fought against this and provided support to and within the Japanese American community, such as Fred Korematsu, the 442nd Regiment, Herbert Nicholson, and the ACLU’s Wayne Collins, are also highlighted, but the focus always remains on the many sacrifices that Takei’s parents made to ensure the safety and survival of their family while shielding their children from knowing the depths of the hatred they faced and danger they were in. The creators also highlight the dangerous parallels between the hate speech, stereotyping, and legislation used against Japanese Americans and the trajectory of current events. Delicate grayscale illustrations effectively convey the intense emotions and the stark living conditions.

A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)

Pub Date: July 16, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-60309-450-4

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Top Shelf Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2019

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