Reading at times rather like a commercial for recovery programs, this text may be best suited to a health class covering the...
A chronicle exposing facts and challenges confronting drug addiction and overdose in America.
Health and science writer Goldsmith returns with another formidable topic for young readers. Covering everything from the stigma of addiction to its effects on the brain and body, the book also divulges lesser-known information, such as the racial stereotyping that affects physicians’ behavior: “Doctors prescribe narcotics more cautiously to black patients.” Quoting a New York Times editorial, the text delves into how Congress has historically treated drug abuse as a disease afflicting mostly poor, minority communities by locking people up and observes how the epidemic of drug-overdose deaths is now ravaging white populations. In light of this, the book could have spent more time talking about the relationships between pharmaceutical companies and physicians. Goldsmith tailors some information to her audience: “More people start using illegal drugs between the ages of sixteen and seventeen than at any other age.” The design includes tips for teens, chapter summaries of statistics, charts, graphics, and photos, as well as relevant boxed-out information. While the information presented is thorough and the facts imperative, the dire subject matter does not make for a page-turner; important details, facts, and figures risk dilution by the dozens of accounts and examples reported.
Reading at times rather like a commercial for recovery programs, this text may be best suited to a health class covering the subject matter; nevertheless, a crucial topic. (index, further information, glossary, selected bibliography, source notes) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5124-0953-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author.
Deaf, trans artist Man meditates on his journey and identity in this brief memoir.
Growing up in conservative central Pennsylvania was tough for the 21-year-old Deaf, genderqueer, pansexual, and biracial (Chinese/White Jewish) author. He describes his gender and sexual identity, his experiences of racism and ableism, and his desire to use his visibility as a YouTube personality, model, and actor to help other young people like him. He is open and vulnerable throughout, even choosing to reveal his birth name. Man shares his experiences of becoming deaf as a small child and at times feeling ostracized from the Deaf community but not how he arrived at his current Deaf identity. His description of his gender-identity development occasionally slips into a well-worn pink-and-blue binary. The text is accompanied and transcended by the author’s own intriguing, expressionistic line drawings. However, Man ultimately falls short of truly insightful reflection or analysis, offering a mostly surface-level account of his life that will likely not be compelling to readers who are not already fans. While his visibility and success as someone whose life represents multiple marginalized identities are valuable in themselves, this heartfelt personal chronicle would have benefited from deeper introspection.
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22348-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style....
As she does in previous volumes—Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (2008) and The Grammar Devotional (2009)—Fogarty affects an earnest and upbeat tone to dissuade those who think a grammar book has to be “annoying, boring, and confusing” and takes on the role of “grammar guide, intent on demystifying grammar.”
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style. Fogarty works hard to find amusing, even cheeky examples to illustrate the many faux pas she discusses: "Squiggly presumed that Grammar Girl would flinch when she saw the word misspelled as alot." Young readers may well look beyond the cheery tone and friendly cover, though, and find a 300+-page text that looks suspiciously schoolish and isn't really that different from the grammar texts they have known for years (and from which they have still not learned a lot of grammar). As William Strunk said in his introduction to the first edition of the little The Elements of Style, the most useful grammar guide concentrates attention “on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.” After that, “Students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work.” By being exhaustive, Fogarty may well have created just the kind of volume she hoped to avoid.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8943-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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