Effectively raises the profile of an African American crusader who was stigmatized for more than his race alone.
A rare tribute to a heroic figure of the civil rights movement.
Distinctly underrecognized in books aimed at younger audiences (in large part because he was gay—which the authors note repeatedly), Bayard Rustin well merits the credit he gets here not only for organizing the renowned March on Washington (and speaking at it, too), but for actually introducing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to the principles of nonviolent protest after learning pacifism at his Quaker grandmother’s knee, being imprisoned as a conscientious objector during World War II, and traveling to India to learn from Gandhi’s followers. As a younger man, he also sang in a touring quartet, and that musical theme is picked up with a playlist of spirituals and civil rights songs posted throughout. Notable in the generous backmatter is an image of the march’s official program and an excerpted history of peaceful protest (post-Thoreau). McCray captures both a sense of the time’s widespread turmoil and of the march’s grand “mosaic of Americans” in collages that incorporate acrylics, scraps of newspaper, music, and decorated papers. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Effectively raises the profile of an African American crusader who was stigmatized for more than his race alone. (timeline, information on music and the march, further reading) (Picture-book biography. 8-10)Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-77950-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Shot through with vague generalities and paired to a mix of equally generic period images and static new art, this overview remorselessly sucks all the juice from its topic.
This survey of the growth of industries in this country from the Colonial period to the post–World War II era is written in the driest of textbook-ese: “Factories needed good transportation so that materials could reach them and so that materials could reach buyers”; “The metal iron is obtained by heating iron ore”; “In 1860, the North said that free men, not slaves, should do the work.” This text is supplemented by a jumble of narrative-overview blocks, boxed side observations and terse captions on each thematic spread. The design is packed with overlapping, misleadingly seamless and rarely differentiated mixes of small, heavily trimmed contemporary prints or (later) photos and drab reconstructions of workshop or factory scenes, along with pictures of significant inventions and technological innovations (which are, in several cases, reduced to background design elements). The single, tiny map has no identifying labels. Other new entries in the All About America series deal similarly with Explorers, Trappers, and Pioneers, A Nation of Immigrants and Stagecoaches and Railroads. Utilitarian, at best—but more likely to dim reader interest than kindle it. (index, timeline, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7534-6670-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kingfisher
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective.
The author of Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America (2004) tells her father’s tale again, for younger readers.
Though using a less personal tone this time and referring to herself in the third person, Robinson still devotes as much attention to his family life, youth and post-baseball career as she does to his achievements on the field. Writing in short sentences and simple language, she presents a clear picture of the era’s racial attitudes and the pressures he faced both in the military service and in baseball—offering plenty of clear reasons to regard him not just as a champion athlete, but as a hero too. An early remark about how he ran with “a bunch of black, Japanese, and Mexican boys” while growing up in Pasadena is insensitively phrased, and a sweeping claim that by 1949 “[t]he racial tension was broken” in baseball is simplistic. Nevertheless, by and large her account covers the bases adequately. The many photos include an admixture of family snapshots, and a closing Q-and-A allows the author to announce the imminent release of a new feature film about Robinson.
It’s an often-told story, but the author is still in a position to give it a unique perspective. (Biography. 8-10)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-545-54006-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
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