Pure moxie.
The sparkling biography of a young changemaker.
Born into a working-class Puerto Rican American family in the Bronx, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, or AOC, became aware of economic disparities around her at a young age, starting when her family moved to suburban Yorktown Heights. In school, she worked to disprove those who didn’t believe that “a brown girl from the BX” could achieve the highest grades in the class. Her passion for activism was kindled when she recognized the injustice of different neighborhoods having access to different resources. Reeling from the death of her father, she worked hard to graduate college with honors and went door to door campaigning for progressive candidates and supported climate justice efforts. Passionate, driven, and intelligent, AOC ran for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and, in 2018, beat the long-standing incumbent by a landslide, becoming the youngest congresswoman in America. Paired with bold illustrations that match AOC’s vibrant personality, the text highlights the importance of challenging the establishment and advocating for change when systems aren’t working. The clear voice and thoughtful inclusion of powerful quotes by Ocasio-Cortez create a compelling underdog story with a hopeful message. The election process is simplified for young readers but accurately charts AOC's path to Congress. Young activists will find inspiration in the details of AOC’s life. A variety of ethnic backgrounds is represented in the illustrated characters. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Pure moxie. (inspiring lessons, glossary, sources) (Picture-book biography. 6-10)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-311374-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly laudatory.
The iconic animator introduces young readers to each “happy place” in his life.
The tally begins with his childhood home in Marceline, Missouri, and climaxes with Disneyland (carefully designed to be “the happiest place on Earth”), but the account really centers on finding his true happy place, not on a map but in drawing. In sketching out his early flubs and later rocket to the top, the fictive narrator gives Ub Iwerks and other Disney studio workers a nod (leaving his labor disputes with them unmentioned) and squeezes in quick references to his animated films, from Steamboat Willie to Winnie the Pooh (sans Fantasia and Song of the South). Eliopoulos incorporates stills from the films into his cartoon illustrations and, characteristically for this series, depicts Disney as a caricature, trademark mustache in place on outsized head even in childhood years and child sized even as an adult. Human figures default to white, with occasional people of color in crowd scenes and (ahistorically) in the animation studio. One unidentified animator builds up the role-modeling with an observation that Walt and Mickey were really the same (“Both fearless; both resourceful”). An assertion toward the end—“So when do you stop being a child? When you stop dreaming”—muddles the overall follow-your-bliss message. A timeline to the EPCOT Center’s 1982 opening offers photos of the man with select associates, rodent and otherwise. An additional series entry, I Am Marie Curie, publishes simultaneously, featuring a gowned, toddler-sized version of the groundbreaking physicist accepting her two Nobel prizes.
Blandly laudatory. (bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7352-2875-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2019
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