This deeply important story will foster further discussion around racism, sexual abuse, and courage.
Maya Angelou: writer, performer, activist.
In a foreword, Angelou’s grandson, Colin Johnson, prepares readers for a story that is not at all a fairy tale and will inevitably prompt conversations. Hegedus’ poem starts with young Maya and older brother Bailey heading to Stamps, Arkansas, where they will live with their paternal grandmother, Momma Henderson, owner of the local general store. Illustrating Henderson’s stoicism in the face of racism, Engel uses the symbolism of a scale with Henderson as its fulcrum, Maya weighing down the pan on one side as jeering white girls are lifted on the other. The children’s brief sojourn with their mother and her boyfriend is marred by his sexual abuse—the text alludes to “a visit to the hospital”—of young Maya; his shadow on the wall as Maya huddles on her bed will haunt readers. Back in Stamps Maya discovers her love of reading, powerfully depicted in an image that shows words swirling above her head. The narrative continues, Hegedus’ spare words finding symbolic representation in Engel’s oil paintings, as Maya moves through her difficult childhood to emerge as a rare talent with a young son to support, later to turn her talents to activism. The final page shows an African American girl reading and reflecting on Angelou’s words; they swirl about her, closing the circle.
This deeply important story will foster further discussion around racism, sexual abuse, and courage. (timeline) (Picture book/biography. 7-12)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62014-587-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 25, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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