This brief, highly readable introduction will leave teens feeling encouraged about alternate career paths.
Hands-on, or kinesthetic, learners will be reassured by this guide, which includes stories about and quotes from an array of successful people, all of whom report that they prefer learning by doing and working with their hands.
The subjects range from an automotive technician to an engineer for NASA and a veterinary assistant, among others. In the early chapters, the author explains different learning styles, explaining that students may discover they prefer to use a mix of styles. The range of occupations mentioned provides readers with much to consider, as does the variety of career and technical education programs and apprenticeships—and even some universities with learning-by-doing philosophies—that can help them achieve their dreams. The third chapter, “Career Considerations,” offers brief overviews of a few broad areas to explore: the skilled trades, culinary arts, renewable energy installation and maintenance, and health care. Each of the final three chapters focuses on a specific job—plumber, pastry chef, and wind turbine technician—describing typical salaries, required education, work settings, beneficial personal qualities, and more. Given the number of quotes from educators, the information Currie-McGhee presents is as useful to parents and counselors as it is to teens. Ample stock photos showing a diverse range of people, colorful page designs, and numerous text boxes add to the accessibility and appeal.
This brief, highly readable introduction will leave teens feeling encouraged about alternate career paths. (source notes, resources, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781678213305
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 3, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2026
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
A powerful reminder of a history that is all too timely today.
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. 4, 2019
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