An accessible, up-to-date, and comprehensive resource.
A well-rounded overview of the rising population of unhoused people in the U.S. and the ways that mental illness can lead to a loss of housing.
Allen presents a timely, unbiased, well-researched reference guide that covers a wide range of topics, including the ways that mental health treatment has evolved in the U.S. and current policy and outreach programs that are attempting to find housing solutions for people experiencing mental health struggles. The author explores the complex problems caused by the dissolution of state psychiatric hospitals that began in the 1950s. Although the movement toward deinstitutionalization was driven by good intentions for providing humane treatment and improved care, many released patients had nowhere to go and ended up living on the streets or in cheap tenements or landing in jails and prisons. Allen covers the daily challenges unhoused people face regarding food, transportation, medication, and basic safety. He also describes relevant subjects such as legislation, “hostile architecture” (features in public spaces that are designed to be uncomfortable for unhoused people), advocacy for a Homeless Bill of Rights, the right to refuse treatment, and current initiatives such as “street psychiatry teams.” The facts and figures are interspersed with rich narratives, making the text approachable, interesting, and relatable. Stock photos reflect racial diversity among unhoused people and those who help them, and sidebars provide additional information. The text doesn’t discuss the widespread preference for the term unhoused.
An accessible, up-to-date, and comprehensive resource. (picture credits, source notes, for further research, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781678208080
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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