by Cheryl Harness & illustrated by Cheryl Harness ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2004
Thomas Jefferson was a “man of contradictions,” an eloquent champion of freedom and equality, yet a slaveholder who fathered several children with Sally Hemings, a slave and half-sister to Martha Jefferson. As with several good recent biographies, this volume presents Jefferson as a man of his times who helped to “light the torch” for freedom and self-government yet was entrenched in the racism of the age. This handsome text effectively portrays Jefferson the man, but slights the political context that shaped his career. The illustrations—watercolor, gouache, ink, and colored pencil—show Harness at her best, portraying not an icon, but a man immersed in the hubbub of family and political life. Diagrams of Monticello and maps of colonial America, the Lewis and Clark expedition, and President Jefferson’s world enrich the text. Only the bibliography is a disappointment, including none of the other solid biographies of Jefferson for young readers. A good match with Fradin’s Who Was Thomas Jefferson? (2003) (author’s note) (Nonfiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-7922-6496-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2003
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by W. Nikola-Lisa & illustrated by Sean Qualls ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2006
Anchored by massive resource lists for adults in tiny type at the back, these 12 thumbnails attempt, not very successfully, to introduce to young or inexpert readers the idea of “multiple intelligences.” After suggesting that “smart” can mean more than scholastic excellence, the author proceeds to prove the opposite with a cast of professionals that mixes such non-household names as physicist/geologist Luis Alvarez, astronomer Annie Jump Cannon and botanist Ynés Mexía with the more familiar likes of Thurgood Marshall, Georgia O’Keeffe and I.M. Pei. Opposite stylized, expressionistic but still recognizable portraits from Qualls, he introduces each with roughly hewn, rap-style verses, followed by a single-paragraph career sketch. Though at the beginning he lists eight intelligences, such as “Body Smart,” “Logic Smart” and even “Nature Smart,” Nikola-Lisa never directly links any of them to his subjects; instead, he instructs readers to figure it out for themselves—without providing more than scattered, vague clues. It’s a worthy concept for creative types and other misfits to absorb, but the author doesn’t seem to understand it very well himself. (Collective biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-58430-254-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2006
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by Jordan Sonnenblick ; illustrated by Jordan Sonnenblick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 2, 2021
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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