A positive but not blindly adulatory introduction.
Profile of a president who turned out—in some ways, at least—to be the right man at the right time.
Taking middle graders approximately as far as Robert Caro’s epic biography of Lyndon Johnson has gotten to date, Quirk follows the 36th president from birth and early days in the Texas Hill Country to the time when, in the shockwave caused by the televised racial violence in Selma and elsewhere, he delivered “the best speech of his life” while ramming through the Voting Rights Act and other landmark Great Society legislation. She rightly notes that he had never been known previously as a civil rights firebrand. Instead, she paints him as a workaholic who, motivated by both a will to power and the idealistic belief that people are fundamentally decent and have a right to a fair shake, saw his moment and seized it—while recognizing all along that when it came to civil rights, the overcoming was a long way from over. “Johnson wanted his speech to reach you,” the author writes, and in earnest of that she closes with a cogent if abbreviated and lamentably behind-the-times epilogue on challenges to voting rights sparked by the Supreme Court’s 2013 Shelby v. Holder decision. The famously “tremendous” presidential ears are on display from infancy to last public appearance in a sparse assortment of photos. An early one depicts the White future president with the Mexican American students he taught in Cotulla, Texas.
A positive but not blindly adulatory introduction. (timeline, bibliography, endnotes, activities) (Biography. 11-13)Pub Date: July 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-324-01554-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Unenticing as an invitation to explore either Middle Earth or the mind behind it.
A lifeless life of the great philologist and creator of “secondary worlds.”
With eye-dulling granularity Carr turns Tolkien’s story into a recitation of family members and religious conversions, childhood and later experiences of debatable significance, academic colleagues and obscurely named literary clubs, changes of address, and sound-bite quotes. It all passes steadily into and out of view, leaving readers only the very briefest of plot summaries and bare glimpses of the uncommon complexity of his imagined languages and worlds or the immense range of literary and cultural traditions on which he drew. Eschewing nuance of any sort, the author also offers no comments about his sometimes-fustian writing style and likewise leaves the sexist and racist themes in his fantasies unexamined. The illustrations mix more film stills and recent art into the period photos than examples of Tolkien’s own lively paintings or drawings, and the assorted set of enrichment activities runs to such uninviting projects as making mushroom toast or writing a book review. The backmatter also seems catch as catch can, as the lists of resources include audiobooks but no visual media despite all those stills and leave out the separate editions of most of Tolkien’s shorter books.
Unenticing as an invitation to explore either Middle Earth or the mind behind it. (glossary, timeline, endnotes, index) (Biography. 11-13)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-64160-346-1
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Will inspire readers to find—and follow—their dreams.
When you do what you love, you never work a day in your life!
The professional lives of 25 diverse individuals are documented in this fascinating title that will spur readers to consider how their own passions may shape their futures. The people profiled likely won’t be well known to most readers, but they represent a variety of career paths. From human rights lawyer to marine biologist to cake designer to professional video game player, there’s something here to catch most readers’ eyes. All individuals profiled express pride and fulfillment with their careers. Each entry spans a double-page spread with added bubbles of additional information, such as “Fun Facts,” “Spin-Off Jobs,” ora brief summary of a similar individual in a connected field. Photos of the subjects are included; Ritchie’s graceful illustrations of the individuals in action round out the book. Frontmatter explains the different forms of education required for these jobs, such as college or university, technical schools, and on-the-job training; the authors use measured vocabulary that does not assign a hierarchical value to any of these paths. The backmatter discusses the difference between technical and soft skills and offers musings on future jobs that might exist when readers are older, such as commercial drone pilot and extinct species revivalist. Readers will delight in learning more about the range of professions available, and adults looking for a career change may be tempted to pick up the book as well.
Will inspire readers to find—and follow—their dreams. (photo credits, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-77278-228-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Pajama Press
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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