This inspiring, relatable life story is in the good hands (er, paws) of a biographer.
A cat biographer interviews the first Black female astronaut in this second installment of a children’s book series.
Former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison wrote an autobiography, Find Where the Wind Goes (2001), and she has been the subject of many works for children. Now, the true story of her life is told—by her cat, Sneeze (“with hardly any help” from author/humorist Greenburg). In this entertaining and informative book for ages 8 to 12, Sneeze, who speaks English as well as “cattish,” interviews Jemison about her childhood, when she was “always in motion…jumping, climbing, falling, and dancing.” Sneeze also explores influences, events, challenges, and Jemison’s own inexhaustible drive that launched her into space and history. Greenburg’s series opener was The Only True Biography of Ben Franklin by His Cat, Missy Hooper (2020). The author’s light touch in this sequel doesn’t trivialize the serious aspects of Jemison’s story, including her experiences with racism. Greenburg allows Sneeze’s puzzlement over why color should matter to send its own message. Jemison remembers the assassination of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and being frightened as much by the violent turmoil that erupted as by the armed National Guardsmen marching past her family’s house. She describes what it was like to be a 16-year-old freshman pursuing chemical engineering at Stanford University and facing dismissive professors. Cornell University Medical College, stints as a young doctor in Asia and Africa, and other notable accomplishments followed before Jemison realized her childhood dream aboard the Endeavor space shuttle in 1992. At Sneeze’s prompting, Jemison describes astronaut training and space travel in absorbing detail. A few diverting digressions from the biography reflect the cat’s interest in such subjects as Africa’s most lethal animals and how a litter box might work (or not) in weightless conditions. (The latter is part of the gross and engrossing chapter “How Astronauts Poop in Space and Do Other Stuff.”) Hill offers black-and-white, cartoony illustrations. The stirring book ends with Jemison’s astonishing post-NASA career.
This inspiring, relatable life story is in the good hands (er, paws) of a biographer.Pub Date: March 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-63411-011-2
Page Count: 154
Publisher: Thunderstone Books
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
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