A sunny, affirmative testimonial to the power of positive thinking.
A young teen with a stutter connects with another member of the same club: then–presidential candidate Joe Biden.
With nearly unwavering positivity Harrington presents in third person his experiences as a 13-year-old who loved to talk even though words sometimes “got caught in his mouth.” At a campaign meet and greet, he is thrilled by the candidate’s frank admission that as a teenager he too had “bumpy speech.” Feeling “truly understood for the first time,” the author overcomes his nerves to address (via video) the 2020 Democratic National Convention and to speak at the subsequent inauguration. Having realized that his stutter is “one of his greatest strengths,” he closes on a personal note: “So don’t be scared to speak up, speak out, and use your voice. You are amazing just the way you are!” With rare exceptions, Tang depicts him as a wide-eyed, confident-looking lad, whether exchanging smiles with Biden, surrounded by his supportive family (all, like Harrington, White), or chatting with racially diverse groups of friends and classmates. Though packing nowhere near the emotional punch of Jordan Scott and Sydney Smith’s I Talk Like a River (2020), the reassuring tone and message may promote improved self-esteem in readers struggling with speech (or other) difficulties of their own. An afterword offers said readers and their caregivers simple insights and suggestions. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A sunny, affirmative testimonial to the power of positive thinking. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Aug. 10, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-309829-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
An important contribution to this volatile chapter in U.S. and Mexican American history
In 1918, José de la Luz Sáenz left his teaching job and enlisted in the United States Army, where he joined thousands of other Mexican American soldiers.
“He wanted to demonstrate that Mexican Americans loved America and would give their lives fighting for it,” writes Tonatiuh. Luz felt that the white people of Texas would start treating Tejanos (Texans of Mexican descent) fairly after seeing their sacrifice. Once in France, Luz taught himself French and was assigned to the intelligence office to translate communications, but he was not given credit or promotions for this vital work. After the war, he and other Tejano veterans found prejudice against them unchanged. They organized and became civil rights leaders. In 1929, 10 years after the end of World War I, they formed the League of United Latin American Citizens. Together they fought against school segregation, racism, prejudice, and “for the ideals of democracy and justice.” The author’s insightful use of Sáenz’s war-diary entries boldly introduces this extraordinary American’s triumphs and struggles. In Tonatiuh’s now-trademark illustrations, Luz crouches with other stylized doughboys in French trenches as shells explode in no man’s land and mourns a fallen fellow Mexican in a French cemetery. Extensive backmatter includes an author’s note, war timeline, timeline of LULAC’s successful civil rights lawsuits, glossary, and bibliography.
An important contribution to this volatile chapter in U.S. and Mexican American history . (Picture book/biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3682-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019
A damp squib next to the many Apollo 11 commemorations that soar.
Three buddies help one another travel to the moon and back.
Leaning heavily on the bro-ness of the enterprise, Tucker describes how “Mike,” “Neil,” and “Buzz” trained and prepared together, then, while the world watched, went “where no human had been before” (or “no man” as she again misquotes the line later on but using its original sexist language) and returned to wild acclaim: “They even met the pope!” With distressing disregard for accuracy she pulls sound bites from the historic flight’s transcripts but alters them to suit and twice explains that “Mike” was responsible for rescuing his teammates if anything went wrong…when in truth, except for a few limited situations, that would have been impossible. In Radford’s simply drawn cartoons, views of the three White astronauts hanging together, sometimes with hands on arms, are more aspirational than strictly true to life (Michael Collins famously characterized their relationship as “amiable strangers”), and considering contemporary photographs, the veracity of a scene showing a racially and gender diverse Mission Control staff seems doubtful too. But the theme the author hammers home in her trite summation is firmly in the pilot’s seat throughout: “They worked hard and look [sic] after each other, and together they reached for the stars!” (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A damp squib next to the many Apollo 11 commemorations that soar. (afterword) (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7112-6380-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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