What is clearly a labor of love creates quite an extraordinary collective biography for young people, from a veteran observer. In the introduction, Lester addresses his granddaughter: “One of our jobs is to remember how things used to be so we can tell our grandchildren.” Using the cadences of traditional storytelling and the rhythms of grandfatherly affection he recollects the lives of ten great blues singers. Because he’s speaking in his grandfather persona, he imbues each of these stories with personal experiences and reflections and fills them with references to tie them to children’s own lives: B.B. King still sleeping with a night light on; Whitney Houston as a child watching her mother, Cissy Houston, sing with Aretha Franklin. He also ties these singers to those who followed them: Janis Joplin paying for half of a tombstone to mark Bessie Smith’s grave; the Rolling Stones taking their band name from a Muddy Waters song; Little Richard, in his life as preacher, officiating at the marriages of Cyndi Lauper and Little Steven. Robert Johnson, Mahalia Jackson, Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, and James Brown are included here, too. Beautiful design plays a role, with pulled quotes in vivid colors and multiple typefonts opening up the text blocks of each three-page biography. Each has a full-page image of its subject in bold, black calligraphic filled with strong colors, evoking stained glass. Excellence wears many faces: this works as biography, as source material for school reports, and as compelling storytelling. (bibliography, recommended listening) (Collective biography. 7-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7868-0463-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Disney-Jump at the Sun
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2001
A rallying cry for anyone looking for a strong example of perseverance.
Brazilian surfer Gabeira offers a fictionalized version of her childhood with this story of an adventurous young girl who overcomes sexism and self-doubt to become a great athlete.
The inhabitants of the fishing village of Nazaré, Portugal, are in awe of a massive wave known as the Beast. A young villager named Maya has asthma and brings medicine with her wherever she goes; though shy, Maya finds fulfillment when moving her body during dancing, gymnastics, and swimming. Having grown up hearing about the Beast, she goes to see it for herself and is in awe of the massive wave, though she also notices boys surfing on it. Maya decides to try surfing, which her father encourages. The boys at the beach tell her surfing is no sport for girls, and she nearly believes them until a voice in a seashell tells her not to give up. Both text and illustrations offer a stirring account of Maya’s journey to surfing mastery. The Beast begins as a spectacle from afar, filling the page with its sheer scope. Maya is often framed within or beneath its crest, including a wonderful scene of her would-be hecklers watching dumbfounded as she joyously surfs ahead of them. Maya and her family are brown-skinned; for the most part, other residents of Nazaré range in skin color from tan to brown. In an author’s note, Gabeira describes growing up in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and, in 2007, setting a Guinness record for the largest wave ever surfed at Praia de Norte in Nazaré. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A rallying cry for anyone looking for a strong example of perseverance. (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-4197-6000-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2022
Deliberately inspirational and tinged with nostalgia, this will please fans but may strike others as overly idealistic.
Veteran picture-book creator Polacco tells another story from her childhood that celebrates the importance of staying true to one’s own interests and values.
After years of spending summers with her father and grandmother, narrator Trisha is excited to be spending the school year in Michigan with them. Unexpectedly abandoned by her summertime friends, Trisha quickly connects with fellow outsiders Thom and Ravanne, who may be familiar to readers from Polacco’s The Junkyard Wonders (2010). Throughout the school year, the three enjoy activities together and do their best to avoid school bully Billy. While a physical confrontation between Thom (aka “Sissy Boy”) and Billy does come, so does an opportunity for Thom to defy convention and share his talent with the community. Loosely sketched watercolor illustrations place the story in the middle of the last century, with somewhat old-fashioned clothing and an apparently all-White community. Trisha and her classmates appear to be what today would be called middle schoolers; a reference to something Trisha and her mom did when she was “only eight” suggests that several years have passed since that time. As usual, the lengthy first-person narrative is cozily conversational but includes some challenging vocabulary (textiles, lackeys, foretold). The author’s note provides a brief update about her friends’ careers and encourages readers to embrace their own differences. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-18-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Deliberately inspirational and tinged with nostalgia, this will please fans but may strike others as overly idealistic. (Picture book. 7-10)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-2622-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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