A vivid portrait of the small man with a small voice who was the first to arrive at the Constitutional Convention in 1787, as well as the last survivor of that august body when he died in 1836—and who played perhaps the most vital, central role in US history in the years between. Marshalling her facts with her usual clarity and humor, Fritz portrays Madison as a fair-minded, modest man who dedicated his life to getting the Constitution and the Bill of Rights written and then making them work. Though it was difficult to hear his soft voice, people knew that "they could count on him to bring reason to bear on the subject, whether they agreed with him or not"; people listened to him—and voted for him—even when his antagonist was as gifted an orator as his lifelong opponent, Patrick Henry. Fritz includes some personal details, especially about Madison's popular, Quaker-turned-fashionable-hostess wife and his close friendship with Jefferson, but she concentrates on the many points in history when Madison's influence was critical. It's not clear where he got the funds for his opulent life-style; he's described as a not-very-successful Virginia farmer who always opposed slavery but who (unlike his father-in-law) never freed his own slaves, in part (Fritz implies) because he couldn't afford that luxury. An excellent, fascinating, indispensable resource.
Pub Date: Sept. 27, 1989
ISBN: 0698116216
Page Count: 125
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1989
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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