A beautifully illustrated testament to the continuing excellence and legacy of African American women.
Accompanied by Robinson’s brightly textured illustrations, Hudson’s text highlights trailblazing African American women from the 1700s until the present day.
Including women from all industries and spheres of activity—theater to mathematics to tennis—everyone here has made her mark. The illustrations evoke a reverence for these women and capture iconic poses, such as Zora Neale Hurston in her fur-trimmed coat and feathered cap and Angela Davis with a raised fist. Each one-page biography includes a famous, inspiring quote from its subject as epigraph. “Women know how to get things done,” for instance, introduces civil rights activist Dorothy Irene Height. Alongside familiar figures are names likely new to many readers: sculptor Augusta Fells Savage, fashion designer Ann Lowe, and Union Army nurse Susie King Taylor, for instance. Although the book does include a few members of the lesbian, bisexual, and queer community, such as Sheryl Swoopes, there is an absence of transgender women, many of whom have achieved historic firsts in the 20th and 21st centuries. It is disappointing to see the omission of such pivotal figures, who have often stood side by side with cisgender black women to advance the rights and freedoms of African Americans. The backmatter provides additional facts about each woman along with information on artifacts at the National Museum of African American History and Culture and at the National Portrait Gallery.
A beautifully illustrated testament to the continuing excellence and legacy of African American women. (Collective biography. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-64581-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
A good introduction with unfortunate missed potential.
A straightforward and simple introduction to what being a refugee means, accompanied by glimpses into real refugees’ lives.
Sensibly depicted throughout the book as people of varying skin tones; with black, brown, blond, or red hair; of young or old age; and with or without glasses, headscarves, or facial hair, refugees are portrayed and described as “just like you and me.” They've been forced to flee their homes on account of danger, although many would have preferred to stay with friends and family, and are described as fortunate if they find a new country where they can live unremarkable lives. Gravel describes war, oppression, and discrimination as reasons to flee one’s country, but she misses natural disasters and environmental degradation as other potential reasons, and despite her repeated emphasis that refugees are “just like” readers, she highlights the stereotypical circumstance of refugee camps. The book ends with an engaging collection of portrayals of refugees: children from different countries speaking about their favorite things, followed by famous refugee women and men from around the world. Readers may find the single sentence that some countries “don’t want to welcome more refugees” inadequate. The emphasis on “more refugees” has the potential of shifting the conversation away from justice for refugees to justifying racist exclusionary policies.
A good introduction with unfortunate missed potential. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-593-12005-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
An essential springboard for further meaningful discussion of this relevant and divisive topic.
Twenty-three years before Brown v. Board of Education, the first successful desegregation case in the United States, Roberto Álvarez v. the Board of Trustees of the Lemon Grove School District, was decided in California in 1931.
In 1930, Lemon Grove school board members secretly decided to provide a segregated education to U.S. citizens of Mexican descent who had, up to that time, enjoyed equal education with the “Anglo” children. Hale’s bilingual text, Spanish printed above English, accompanies her illustrations and describes how the school’s white principal disobeyed the board’s orders and alerted the families. The Latino community boycotted the inferior school and sought legal recourse with the help of the Mexican consul. The board members argued that a separate education was necessary in order “to give special attention to students who spoke poor English and had other ‘deficiencies.’ ” The plaintiff, 12-year-old Roberto Álvarez, responded to the white judge’s questions in perfect English—and the judge ruled in favor of the 75 Mexican American students. Hale bases much of her account of this important but little-known case on primary sources and interviews with many of the principal participants. However, the backmatter regarding the history of Mexican immigration and the mass deportations of the 1930s is both inaccurate and oversimplified, so educators should seek out additional information when using this text. (A revision to this backmatter will appear in the book's second printing.)
An essential springboard for further meaningful discussion of this relevant and divisive topic. (Informational picture book. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-89239-427-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Children's Book Press
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2019
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