A look back at some of the crazes—such an apt word—that swept the United States over the last century.
To every time and season, there has been a fad or two. For a very long time, it was the upper crust who determined the mood and spirit of fads, but with the rise in wages and the shortening of the work week, fads became great engines of whoopee. Bix’s accompanying narrative to the archival photos is a straightforward affair, because the fads speak for themselves: dance marathons, sitting on flagpoles (for—why not?—21 days), swallowing goldfish (live—eww), pogo sticks and hula hoops, packing telephone booths with college students, 3-D movies, and on and on. Fads fade, though a mighty few have become institutions: yo-yos, Frisbees, rock-’n’-roll, and, alas, chain letters. What lifts Bix’s work to a higher level is the way she sets the fads against realities that made escape into unbridled tomfoolery an act of sanity: the Great Depression, two world wars and those that followed, including the Iraq War, assassinations, Columbine and the Oklahoma City bombing. These are scattered throughout the text as elements in timelines, along with moon landings, the Lone Ranger and Bugs Bunny.
Current record for phone-booth stuffing? Twenty-five—until inspired readers find the last remaining one to try for 26. (Nonfiction. 11-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4677-1034-3
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Categories: TEENS & YOUNG ADULT NONFICTION
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
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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 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
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