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FIRST TO A MILLION

A TEENAGER’S GUIDE TO ACHIEVING EARLY FINANCIAL FREEDOM

A mildly informative but incomplete view of financial goal setting.

An infomercial-style book about financial independence options and long-term goals.

Sheeks’ plan for achieving FI includes four useful mechanisms with clear and concise advice on how to earn more, spend less, save robustly, and invest wisely. The formula to reduce the burden of debt and grow wealth also features several short profiles of real young people and describes their experiences. The insights about time and frugality are highlights, and the 4 Percent Rule for savings and other tools encourage helpful reflection. Sheeks discusses how aggressive saving, establishing good credit, and wise investing will help readers obtain FI long before the usual age of retirement. However, with a limited analysis of alternate viewpoints and no mention of broader societal inequities that have an impact on personal opportunities and finance, such as race, sexuality, gender identity, and social class, readers could become wary of this approach. The weak, repetitive writing quickly becomes as tedious as an awkward middle-aged relative trying to sound hip, offering a handful of valuable perspectives that go somewhat against the grain of conventional wisdom about retirement yet delivering the feel of a long-winded sales pitch complete with multiple reminders to post selfies and videos featuring the book on social media.

A mildly informative but incomplete view of financial goal setting. (checklists, resources, notes, glossary) (Nonfiction. 14-18)

Pub Date: Dec. 14, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-947200-46-3

Page Count: 240

Publisher: BiggerPockets

Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021

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THE NEW QUEER CONSCIENCE

From the Pocket Change Collective series

Small but mighty necessary reading.

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 28, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020

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THEY CALLED US ENEMY

A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today.

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  • Kirkus Reviews'
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A beautifully heart-wrenching graphic-novel adaptation of actor and activist Takei’s (Lions and Tigers and Bears, 2013, etc.) childhood experience of incarceration in a World War II camp for Japanese Americans.

Takei had not yet started school when he, his parents, and his younger siblings were forced to leave their home and report to the Santa Anita Racetrack for “processing and removal” due to President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066. The creators smoothly and cleverly embed the historical context within which Takei’s family’s story takes place, allowing readers to simultaneously experience the daily humiliations that they suffered in the camps while providing readers with a broader understanding of the federal legislation, lawsuits, and actions which led to and maintained this injustice. The heroes who fought against this and provided support to and within the Japanese American community, such as Fred Korematsu, the 442nd Regiment, Herbert Nicholson, and the ACLU’s Wayne Collins, are also highlighted, but the focus always remains on the many sacrifices that Takei’s parents made to ensure the safety and survival of their family while shielding their children from knowing the depths of the hatred they faced and danger they were in. The creators also highlight the dangerous parallels between the hate speech, stereotyping, and legislation used against Japanese Americans and the trajectory of current events. Delicate grayscale illustrations effectively convey the intense emotions and the stark living conditions.

A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today. (Graphic memoir. 14-adult)

Pub Date: July 16, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-60309-450-4

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Top Shelf Books

Review Posted Online: Aug. 4, 2019

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