A celebration of young female writers that would be a great addition to classroom shelves as an inspiring example of honest...
A diverse group of teenage girls from New York City offer glimpses into their lives in this collection of short autobiographical essays interspersed with pieces of advice from leading women authors of today.
As a shy eighth-grader, Diamond Abreu found a sanctuary that released her inhibitions in the world of a comic-book store, showing how passion can open doors and build bridges. Dominican immigrant Alexa Betances muses over a photo of the father, who unexpectedly abandoned her family when she was 3, while Charlene Vasquez claims her autism as her own normal and speaks out against stereotypes. Iemi Hernandez-Kim wisely points out the futility of the metal detectors installed in her school, referencing a student who used a house key as a weapon against a security guard. Jennifer Lee reflects on her mother’s sacrifices, both in leaving Korea and in all she has done for her daughters in America. This volume gives the girls a platform to share some of their most intimate stories. In between essays, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie sums up this collection by encouraging young women to embrace the honesty of their stories and refuse to succumb to fears about likability. Elsewhere, Francine Prose speaks to the power of writing to allow us to freely express ourselves.
A celebration of young female writers that would be a great addition to classroom shelves as an inspiring example of honest writing. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-947793-05-7
Page Count: 250
Publisher: Tin House
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
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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