A beautiful example of what a picture book can be.
How did a book-loving girl grow up to be a Supreme Court justice?
“Ladies and gentleman of the jury,” the story opens, as a young white girl faces an audience to present evidence on how Ruth Bader Ginsburg experienced an “unfair world” of prejudice against Jews and females. Winter traces Ginsburg’s life from birth in Brooklyn in 1933 to college at Cornell and law school at Harvard and Columbia and, ultimately, to the United States Supreme Court, the second woman ever to be appointed. Each step of the way, she faced sexism and exclusion, effectively addressed as courtroom evidence. In exhibit A, she’s demoted and forced to take a pay cut in her first job out of college (before law school) due to pregnancy. Exhibit B presents the fact that Harvard Law School had no housing for women since there were only nine of them, and in exhibit C, women couldn’t enter the periodicals room—critical for completing coursework. The text, informative without overwhelming, is extended by an author’s note describing some of Ginsburg’s actual court cases (including her opposition to the Citizen’s United decision). Innerst’s stunning gouache, ink, and Photoshop illustrations employ an R. Gregory Christie–style of abstraction, from the dust-jacket portrait and the case cover’s clever depiction of Ginsburg and the scales of justice to the endpapers full of books, books, books. From cover to cover, a lovingly made volume that succeeds on every level.
A beautiful example of what a picture book can be. (glossary) (Picture book/biography. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2559-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 18, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2017
His enemies may have called him an outsider, but Alexander Hamilton was loyal to his adopted country. In a swift and lively narrative, Fritz traces Hamilton’s life from his childhood in the West Indies to schooling in America and on to his involvement in just about every phase of the nation’s birthing. A soldier in Washington’s army, he was later asked to be on Washington’s staff as an aide-de-camp, thus beginning a close relationship with the future president. Later, Hamilton was asked to be the first secretary of the treasury for the new nation, the perfect position for a Federalist, who believed in a strong central government, a national bank and a monetary standard. The narrative features abundant detail without ever losing sight of Hamilton the person, no small feat for a work about a complicated man in complex times, and Schoenherr’s black-and-white illustrations are a perfect complement to the text. The volume comes to an unfortunately perfunctory conclusion with Hamilton’s death in his duel with Aaron Burr, though source notes add interesting additional reading. (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25546-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An impeccably researched and told biography of Leonard Bernstein’s musical apprenticeship, from toddlerhood to his conducting debut with the New York Philharmonic at age 25. Rubin traces Lenny’s education, musical influences and enduring friendships. Lenny reveled in mounting elaborate musical productions in Sharon, Mass., his family’s summer community. As a student, he augmented support from his family by giving lessons, accompanying singers, transcribing music and more; the narrative sparkles with details that match its subject’s energy and verve. Especially crystalline are the links drawn between father Sam’s decades-long dismissal of his son’s musical gifts and the consequential importance of mentors and supportive teachers in the young man’s life. In exploring Lenny’s devout Jewish roots and coming of age during the persecution of Jews in Europe, the author reveals how dramatically Bernstein altered the landscape for conductors on the American scene. In an epilogue sketching Bernstein’s later life, she briefly mentions his bisexuality, marriage and children. Drawn from interviews, family memoirs and other print resources, quotations are well-integrated and assiduously attributed. Photos, concert programs, early doodles and letters, excerpts from musical scores and other primary documentation enhance the text. Excellent bookmaking—from type to trim size—complements a remarkable celebration of a uniquely American musical genius. (chronology, biographical sketches, author’s note, discography, bibliography, quotation sources, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-58089-344-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2011
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