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
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S RELIGION
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A hagiographic portrait of the United States’ newest president-elect.
Gormley begins with Biden’s working-class origins, then retraces his development as a “natural leader” from roguish, family-centered senior class president to responsible and still family-centered national one. Focusing as she goes on values or character-revealing anecdotes and sound bites (including multiple early predictions that he would grow up to be president), she turns his father’s motto “if you get knocked down, get up” into a thematic mantra. Gormley portrays his career as a heroic march to the White House past both political challenges and wrenching personal tragedies. The author mixes frank accounts of the latter with heartwarming family stories like the time his sons, then 6 and 7, sat him down in 1976 and told him to marry Jill Jacobs. The author presents Biden’s early positions on, for instance, same-sex marriage or crime as either evolving or errors acknowledged in retrospect, dismisses allegations of sexual harassment, and frames his verbal gaffes as just foibles: “Obama was ‘the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.’ Oops. Joe Biden had spoken without thinking.” Side looks at relevant topics from trickle-down economics to the Electoral College inelegantly interrupt the text but serve to fill in some of the historical background, and the tactics and failures of the Trump administration, particularly to address the Covid-19 pandemic, get a good airing. The narrative ends the weekend after Election Day with an analysis of the challenges ahead. No illustrations or index were seen.
Trots in all the tropes except the cherry tree, but the rosy glow may not be misplaced considering his predecessor. (source notes) (Biography. 11-13)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-7932-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2021
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Marching for the rights of all—children, Black people, women, Indigenous people, DREAMers, the LGBTQ+ community, disabled individuals, and many others—is explored in this history.
From the children who walked with Mother Jones from Pennsylvania to New York in 1903 to speak for better youth labor laws to the worldwide Youth Climate Strike in March 2019, all kinds of marches—many linked to children and youth—are described in lively language and illustrated with bright cartoons that emphasize diversity among participants and illustrate the banners and posters carried. Each two-page spread contains a short history of each march and the actions taken, set in dense type, along with one or two quotes from organizers. Some, like the Longest Walk, a 1978 march from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., undertaken by Indigenous people to bring attention to 11 Congressional bills that threatened sovereignty, were weeks or months long. Widely known events like the recent Women’s March in January 2017 and actions known only to a few historians, like the 1943 march of Bulgarian Jews against the Holocaust, receive equal treatment. Connections among marches and themes repeated due to unchanging social and political conditions are pointed out and are one of the book’s strengths. The visually appealing last spread shows a timeline of each event placed on a long winding road. There is neither a table of contents nor an index, but the information presented is accessible and should really be read straight through for greatest impact. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 27.3% of actual size.)
This inspiring book will encourage activism. (sources, further reading) (Nonfiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-4270-2
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Nov. 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR | CHILDREN'S HISTORY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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