Idealistic and hopeful.
PopActivism founder Paisley (Can Your Outfit Change the World?, 2018, etc.) is known for the prom dress she made out of her old math homework to raise awareness about the importance of education for all girls.
Her latest book provides a brief overview of feminist activism in eight chapters, with a full-color layout of photos, sidebars, and quotes. In “A Different Type of Education,” the author explains how she discovered and forged her feminist identity. “The F Word” answers the question of what feminism is and covers the history of its three waves. It also includes a brief explanation of intersectionality. “Hashtag Equality” discusses how to use social media to bring awareness to inequalities women face. “Your Body, Your Choice” urges readers to question the ways cultures police female bodies. “Smashing the Glass Ceiling” explains barriers in education and the workplace and ways to break through them. “Power Projects” describes several campaigns aimed at ending injustices girls and women endure around the world. The author acknowledges some of her favorite feminists in “Conversations in Action,” and “The Future of Feminism” covers ways in which readers can become activists. The Canadian author cites statistics from a white North American viewpoint, and the book’s inclusiveness only grazes the tip of the intersectional iceberg, but it’s still a good jumping-off point for budding feminists searching for an upbeat place to start.
Idealistic and hopeful. (glossary, resources) (Nonfiction. 12-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1309-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: June 17, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author.
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 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style....
As she does in previous volumes—Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (2008) and The Grammar Devotional (2009)—Fogarty affects an earnest and upbeat tone to dissuade those who think a grammar book has to be “annoying, boring, and confusing” and takes on the role of “grammar guide, intent on demystifying grammar.”
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style. Fogarty works hard to find amusing, even cheeky examples to illustrate the many faux pas she discusses: "Squiggly presumed that Grammar Girl would flinch when she saw the word misspelled as alot." Young readers may well look beyond the cheery tone and friendly cover, though, and find a 300+-page text that looks suspiciously schoolish and isn't really that different from the grammar texts they have known for years (and from which they have still not learned a lot of grammar). As William Strunk said in his introduction to the first edition of the little The Elements of Style, the most useful grammar guide concentrates attention “on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.” After that, “Students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work.” By being exhaustive, Fogarty may well have created just the kind of volume she hoped to avoid.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8943-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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