Reasonably inclusive if parochial in geographic scope and with a message that Aretha Franklin puts most pithily: “We’re...
Thirty-two living women with “firsts” to their credit offer reflections and attitude.
The qualifier “American” is absent from the title, but everyone here except Madeleine Albright was born in the United States, and all are still residents. Distilled for young audiences from an online project and its earlier print spinoff, Firsts: Women Who Are Changing the World (2017), the birthdate-ordered gallery begins with Barbara Walters (“First woman to co-anchor a network evening news program”) and Rita Moreno (“First Latina to win an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony”) and ends with Mo’ne Davis (“First girl to pitch a shutout and win a game in a Little League World Series”). In between it offers both third-person biographical thumbnails and original one- or two-page statements from women in a range of professions. As role models, the usual suspects (Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, Maya Lin) are interspersed with some venturesome choices (Kellyanne Conway, Rachel Maddow, transgender TV actor Candis Cayne), but common themes emerge in their experiences—being “the only woman in the room,” for instance, and the struggle to overcome “the curse of perfectionism.” If some remarks read like aspirational boilerplate, there is enough individual voice in most to convey strength of character and steadiness of purpose. Each entry features a recent, formal color portrait; most also include additional, sometimes early photos.
Reasonably inclusive if parochial in geographic scope and with a message that Aretha Franklin puts most pithily: “We’re coming.” (index) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-54780-006-3
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Time Inc. Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Hopping wraps her cogent account of how the Nee-mee-pu (Nez Perce) were rooted out of their homeland and only subdued after a long and heroic pursuit around twin character portraits of the group and of its most renowned member. While presenting Joseph as one chief among several—and not a war chief, as sometimes depicted, but “a peace chief, a civil leader” whose greatest skill was the ability to “sway others with well-chosen words”—she places him in a peaceable, prosperous and steady society that enjoyed good relations with encroaching “So-ya-pu” until broken promises, profound misunderstanding and outright aggression escalated into violence. Joseph argued for peace before and during the tragic “War of 1877” and in later years too as he became a nationally known figure. His tale has been told plenty of times to young audiences, but this iteration comes in an appealingly compact format, with plenty of contemporary photos and maps, plus a generous selection of backmatter. (glossary, bibliography, source notes, index) (Biography. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-6842-2
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Dec. 26, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
This mixed-format profile of the Great Soul sandwiches a concise narrative account of his life—enhanced by plenty of photos and sketched illustrations, plus side boxes and a spread on Hindu theology and customs—between a look at formative experiences in his early career presented in graphic panels and closing spreads of short passages from his works arranged by major themes (“Civil Disobedience,” “Love”). Urging readers to “listen to his words and consider whether some of his goals are also our own,” de Lambilly follows Gandhi from birth to assassination, focusing especially on the development of his philosophy, his methods of nonviolent protest and the relentless courage with which he took on the forces of racial, national and religious prejudice. Though the author’s fact checking could have been better—Pakistan was not “the world’s first Muslim country,” nor was her subject the “first person to use non-violence in politics”—Gandhi’s inspiring example and message is conveyed here with eloquence and simplicity in an appealingly designed package. The resource list includes works for both adults and younger audiences. (index) (Biography. 11-13)
Pub Date: Nov. 10, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59270-094-3
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Enchanted Lion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
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