A thought-provoking treatise on charting one’s destiny without societal constrictions.
A survey of seldom-heard accounts of female pirates.
Organized loosely by motivation for becoming a pirate, each chapter covers a woman buccaneer from ancient times to the late 19th century. Some individuals were rulers who took up piratical navy practices, others began as thieves or sex workers. Readers learn mostly about white women who sailed all over the world, but the profiles include Muslim ruler Sayyida al-Hurra from Granada and Cheng I Sao from China, the most successful pirate (of any gender) of all time. Readers may question whether a single act of piracy makes a couple of the women worthy of the title of “pirate,” but the accounts universally make for good stories. Sidebars provide pertinent historical context, such as background on the status of women in medieval Europe and the history of Viking longships. Duncombe (Pirate Women, 2017, etc.) is invested in her topic, stressing how these historical figures who rebelled against the status quo can help modern women feel empowered. She also acknowledges the difficulty of establishing firm historical facts in many cases and often includes contradictory reports, encouraging readers to be open to different interpretations. Illustrations and maps would have greatly enhanced the text. Each chapter ends with further reading, although many of the works cited are too complex for this book’s intended audience.
A thought-provoking treatise on charting one’s destiny without societal constrictions. (notes, selected bibliography) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-64160-055-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Chicago Review Press
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
In either iteration, a provocative counter to conventional, blinkered views of our national story.
A classic framing of this country’s history from a multicultural perspective, clumsily cut and recast into more simplified language for young readers.
Veering away from the standard “Master Narrative” to tell “the story of a nation peopled by the world,” the violence- and injustice-laden account focuses on minorities, from African- Americans (“the central minority throughout our country’s history”), Mexicans and Native Americans to Japanese, Vietnamese, Sikh, Russian Jewish and Muslim immigrants. Stefoff reduces Takaki’s scholarly but fluid narrative (1993, revised 2008) to choppy sentences and sound-bite quotes. She also adds debatable generalizations, such as a sweeping claim that Native Americans “lived outside of white society’s borders,” and an incorrect one that the Emancipation Proclamation “freed the slaves.” Readers may take a stronger interest in their own cultural heritage from this broad picture of the United States as, historically, a tapestry of ethnic identities that are “separate but also shared”—but being more readable and, by page count at least, only about a third longer, the original version won’t be out of reach of much of the intended audience, despite its denser prose.
In either iteration, a provocative counter to conventional, blinkered views of our national story. (endnotes, glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-60980-416-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Seven Stories
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
Even rabid fans of Lennon or the 1960s will find new information and angles in this searching study.
On the verge of her 80th birthday (Feb. 18, 2013), Ono steps out of her iconic late husband’s shadow for a sympathetic profile.
The authors present her as a groundbreaking creative artist whose work has been misunderstood, not to say derided, for decades and who was unjustly vilified as the woman who broke up the Beatles. They describe a comfortable upbringing in Japan and the United States, childhood experiences in World War II and artistic development as part of New York’s avant-garde scene in the 1950s and early ’60s. The book goes on to chronicle her relationships with various husbands, including “soul mate” John Lennon, and her two children, life as a peace-activist celebrity in the ’70s, and (in much less detail) her activities, honors and exhibitions after Lennon’s death. The account is occasionally trite (“Yoko and John were stressed to the max”) or platitudinous, and it’s unlikely to persuade younger (or any) readers to appreciate Yoko’s creations—which run to works like an 80-minute film of naked rumps walking by and sets of chess pieces that are all the same color—as great art. Nevertheless, it does impart a good sense of conceptual and performance art’s purposes and expressions along with a detailed portrait of a complex woman who for several reasons has a significant place in our cultural history.
Even rabid fans of Lennon or the 1960s will find new information and angles in this searching study. (photos, timeline to 2009, resource lists) (Biography. 12-15)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0444-4
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2012
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