Danalis’s story begins in his Indigenous Studies class when he blurts out that he grew up with an Aboriginal skull (dubbed “Mary” despite belonging to a male) on his mantelpiece and “everyone turned and stared at me with a mixture of incredulousness, disgust, and horror.” His classmates’ reactions awaken in Danalis an emotional imperative to atone for his former ignorance and prejudices and to return the skull to his Wamba Wamba descendants. Australian Aborigines are generally a religious people for whom the disturbance of bodily remains means perpetual unrest. Every bone, skull or skeleton that goes “home” matters. In this remarkably compelling memoir, Danalis recounts both his efforts and the horrific mistreatment Australian Aborigines suffered at the hands of whites and reflects on his racial attitudes as a child and adolescent. American readers will easily see the parallels to the campaigns of cultural genocide and extermination waged upon Native Americans. Part history, part detective story, part cultural discovery and emotional journey, this fascinating account reveals the transformative and healing power of reconciliation. (Memoir. 13 & up)
Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-74175-377-6
Page Count: 276
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
A startling series of testimonies about urban violence from New York City teens. These first-person essays on sociological issues first appeared in New Youth Connection, a newspaper for and by students of New York City high schools. By choosing the best essays on the theme of violence, the editors have compiled a book more eloquent than a thousand police reports. For the writers live in housing projects; they know violence all too well. So why do kids kill each other? In their own words, “Kids nowadays are ready to kill . . . over the dumbest things.” You’ll hear talk of trafficking in gold chains—one young man is stabbed for a good fake. Yet the cause of violence is rarely just material. Instead, it erupts when one gets —dissed— (disrespected) too often in a life where to hold onto a shred of dignity is rare. To their credit, two of the teenage boys here write about why they will not pack a pistol: because they’ve seen innocent loved ones get killed, and because it gives the owner a dangerously distorted sense of power. While all the killing seems to involve young men who treat life “like a reset button in a video game,” some of the most abused victims are the young women in their lives—or, in one case, a homosexual young man who cannot take part in their bad-mustached, bad-mouthed behavior. Among the women, one Chinese girl, not dressed provocatively enough to earn the usual stream of catcalls from the corner full of unemployed truants, is angry enough to say, after a bottle is thrown at her, that it’s as though a female in the city “has a bullseye on her body.” Unheard voices crying for a hearing.
Pub Date: Aug. 20, 1998
ISBN: 0-684-83754-4
Page Count: 272
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1998
Bosworth—late of Laguna Beach and The Hills, two MTV series that showcased the lives and loves of Southern California’s young and glamorous—is building a brand for herself: the sensible-yet-sexy older cousin. This book, which shares a title with her recently launched lifestyle website, expands on the romance-advice section of her site and ably offers an appealing mix of generic and specific relationship advice in a breezy, knowing tone. Using a mix of anecdotes from her own life and those of her friends, quizzes, recipes and straight-ahead advice in a post-feminist–meets-retro mashup that may make older readers occasionally gnash their teeth, the author counsels girls never to forget their intrinsic excellence and not to settle for bad relationships. Readers might expect a funny and wise young advisor to address sex more directly than she does here, but this is clearly a title intended to capitalize on a specific moment in its author’s life. Bosworth is focused on broad appeal, not breaking new ground. Overall, the positive aspects of her message outweigh the sigh-worthy bits. (Relationship advice. YA)
Pub Date: Jan. 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4424-1200-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
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