What is the true nature of heroism?
Atwood (Women Heroes of World War II, 2011, etc.) offers a quote from George F. Kennan in an epigraph to this engrossing history of heroic women: “Heroism is endurance for one moment more.” Fifteen biographies of women with roles in the Pacific theater of World War II follow. The women, both white and Asian (non-Japanese), came from a variety of countries and include nurses, spies, missionaries, journalists, and a brutalized sex slave for Japanese soldiers. Many endured inhuman mistreatment at the hands of Japanese military. Although the biographies are brief, they effectively convey the devastating effects of the war and offer graphic information about casualties. An epilogue clearly explains both the international situation in the summer of 1945 and the Japanese military stance that led up to the American decision to use atomic bombs to end the war in the Pacific. Photographs with useful captions and occasional well-placed text boxes offer additional information. Detailed endnotes, a lengthy bibliography, and suggested discussion questions round out the presentation. Only one of the admirable women, Elizabeth MacDonald, who served mostly in Washington, D.C., in the Office of Strategic Services (after beginning the war near Pearl Harbor), seems to fail to fully exemplify Kennan’s definition. Japanese women who demonstrated heroism are notably absent from this Allied-leaning overview.
A worthy addition to military collections. (index, not seen) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61373-168-0
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: July 20, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
Categories: TEEN HISTORY | TEEN BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Did you like this book?
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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. 5, 2019
Did you like this book?
Curator, author, and activist Drew shares her journey as an artist and the lessons she has learned along the way.
Drew uses her own story to show how deeply intertwined activism and the arts can be. Her choices in college were largely overshadowed by financial need, but a paid summer internship at the Studio Museum in Harlem became a formative experience that led her to major in art history. The black artists who got her interested in the field were conspicuously absent in the college curriculum, however, as was faculty support, so she turned her frustration into action by starting her own blog to boost the work of black artists. After college, Drew’s work in several arts organizations, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, only deepened her commitment to making the art world more accessible to people of color and other marginalized groups, such as people with disabilities, and widening the scope of who is welcomed there. Drew narrates deeply personal experiences of frustration, triumph, progress, learning, and sometimes-uncomfortable growth in a conversational tone that draws readers in, showing how her specific lens enabled her to accomplish the work she has done but ultimately inviting readers to add their own contributions, however small, to both art and protest.
This deeply personal and boldly political offering inspires and ignites. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09518-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Categories: TEEN NONFICTION | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES | TEEN BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Did you like this book?
© Copyright 2020 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
