Informative and well-sourced, this holds appeal for young activists.
In 2018, 15-year-old Greta Thunberg’s personal campaign against climate change moved beyond her family and led to student demonstrations around the world.
Former journalist Marcovitz ably introduces the Swedish teen who became Time magazine’s youngest ever Person of the Year in 2019. Strongly moved by a climate change video at age 11, Thunberg became totally focused on its devastating effects and seriously depressed. A diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome explained her hyperfocus, and she used this trait to challenge first the Swedish government and then world leaders. What began as her personal “School Strike for the Climate” became an international crusade as she was invited to address world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos and United Nations meetings in Katowice, Poland, and New York. The book chronicles her activism—spurred in part by the post-Parkland anti-gun protests in the U.S. and her parents’ own advocacy—as well as the sometimes personal public criticism she has faced, to which she once replied, “If they are attacking me, then that means they have no argument to speak of and their debate only involves attacking me. That means we’ve already won.” Marcovitz concludes with various examples of “the Greta Effect.” The straightforward, accessibly written text includes short pullout sections on a variety of topics and occasional photographs.
Informative and well-sourced, this holds appeal for young activists. (source notes, timeline, further reading, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68282-923-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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
A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today.
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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