Terrifying and timely.
A short but trenchant overview of a topic guaranteed to dominate headlines this election year.
“They’re doing it as we sit here.” Robert Mueller’s warning in his Congressional testimony sets the urgent tone. “Election manipulation,” as used in this volume, focuses specifically on digital threats which are addressed in three distinct categories: the hacking of campaigns and other political entities; the use of social media to spread disinformation and propaganda; and tampering with the actual process of voting, including exploiting the vulnerabilities of voting machines. Allen looks at each in turn, emphasizing examples from the 2016 U.S. presidential election but with references to the 2018 U.S. midterms and European elections as well. Russia and Russian-sponsored entities are called out as the chief bad actors, but the dangers of North Korea, Iran, China, and domestic perpetrators are not discounted. The crisp, energetic prose endeavors to be nonpartisan but clearly disapproves of the priorities of President Donald Trump (and several other Republican politicians), repeatedly noting their indifference to and dismissal of the seriousness of the issues and their obstruction of proposed remedies. While the overall message is alarming, Allen emphasizes that basic awareness and common-sense safeguards can go a long way to improving security. The sources cited are all up-to-the-minute; color photographs and informative text boxes enhance the work.
Terrifying and timely. (source notes, further reading, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: April 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68282-807-6
Page Count: 80
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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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