Important background for prospective voters.
An explanation of what general voting is for and why it is important.
In unusually (for the audience) frank if bare-bones fashion, deRubertis briefly chronicles the “long and bumpy” pursuit of universal suffrage in this country, from the first U.S. elections in which just 1 percent of the populace was qualified to vote at all up to the 30 percent turnout that resulted in 2016’s presidential debacle. Rightly observing that having a legal right to vote and being allowed to exercise it are two very different things, she charts the slow extension of the franchise to ethnic minorities and women (as well as a federal court’s retrograde 2000 exclusion of residents of Puerto Rico and other territories); names the first African-Americans, Native Americans, woman, and Chinese-American to be elected to the U.S. Senate; and surveys the civil rights protests that led to 1975’s expanded Voting Rights Act. Though she focuses largely on federal elections, state and local ones receive some attention. The Electoral College, voter-record security issues, and political parties go unmentioned, but the author does highlight low turnouts as a significant issue before closing with an eloquent summation of voting’s importance in a democratic society. Age, race, and gender diversity were plainly important considerations in choosing the generous selection of period portraits and scenes and recent stock photos, including the striking cover image of a smiling black woman at a podium.
Important background for prospective voters. (Nonfiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63592-055-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kane Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
Go adventuring with a better guide.
Find something to do in every state in the U.S.A.!
This guide highlights a location of interest within each of the states, therefore excluding Washington, D.C., and the territories. Trivia about each location is scattered across crisply rendered landscapes that background each state’s double-page spread while diminutive, diverse characters populate the scenes. Befitting the title, one “adventure” is presented per state, such as shrimping in Louisiana’s bayous, snowshoeing in Connecticut, or celebrating the Fourth of July in Boston. While some are stereotypical gimmes (surfing in California), others have the virtue of novelty, at least for this audience, such as viewing the sandhill crane migration in Nebraska. Within this thematic unity, some details go astray, and readers may find themselves searching in vain for animals mentioned. The trivia is plentiful but may be misleading, vague, or incorrect. Information about the Native American peoples of the area is often included, but its brevity—especially regarding sacred locations—means readers are floundering without sufficient context. The same is true for many of the facts that relate directly to expansion and colonialism, such as the unexplained near extinction of bison. Describing the genealogical oral history of South Carolina’s Gullah community as “spin[ning] tales” is equally brusque and offensive. The book tries to do a lot, but it is more style than substance, which may leave readers bored, confused, slightly annoyed—or all three. (This book was reviewed digitally with 12.2-by-20.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 80% of actual size.)
Go adventuring with a better guide. (tips on local adventuring, index) (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7112-5445-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Lively, lucid, and timely.
Updated for a modern audience, the pre-eminent first lady’s views on what government is and does and why having a voice in it all matters.
The female and nonwhite firefighters, garbage collectors, public officials, and jurors in Lin’s bright, racially and gender-diverse illustrations—not to mention references in the narrative to calling 911, to “alderpersons,” and “selectpeople”—were likely not in the original 1932 edition. It’s easy, though, to hear Roosevelt, or at least her voice, in the pellucid descriptions of how local, state, and national governments are organized and the kinds of services they are charged with providing, both in the common-sense tone (“What seems good to you might not be good for the rest of the nation”) and in the inspirational message: “Marking your ballot is one of the most important—and exciting—things you’ll ever do.” Also at least partly new are descriptive notes about each amendment to the Constitution and each position in contemporary presidents’ cabinets, plus an eye-opening explanation of how electoral results can be manipulated through gerrymandering (using “blue” and “purple” voters as examples). Further comments by Roosevelt on citizenship and a brief biography focusing on her causes and character lead in to a short but choice set of more detailed sources of information about her life and work.
Lively, lucid, and timely. (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62672-879-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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