Overall, an engaging introduction for a broad audience to the movements and individuals who fought worldwide for women’s...
An emphasis on major players in the global spread of women’s suffrage distinguishes this volume from others of its ilk.
This chronology outlining the development and eventual success of women’s suffrage movements is subdivided by headings such as “The Trailblazers” and “Women at War.” Each spread is dedicated to a country or region, and it features succinct paragraphs that establish historical context and describe the women who helped advance the franchise in their respective countries. Care has been taken to acknowledge instances in which women suffered violent retaliation for their activism or when intersectional conditions such as race and class resulted in the uneven distribution of voting rights. The highly stylized art in each spread employs a range of bright colors and textures that suggest either some natural landscape or culturally specific item(s) from each featured country. The text’s recurring use of water metaphors (“waves of change,” etc.) echoes the endpapers, which feature a wave pattern in shades of blue overlaid with red check marks. The book itself begins with a colorful, undulating timeline that also serves as a table of contents, and it ends with a more detailed timeline and an index, although, disappointingly, it lacks a bibliography or resources for further reading. Also disappointing is the implication that a Qatari activist’s use of Twitter and Facebook led to a new constitution in 2003, before either existed.
Overall, an engaging introduction for a broad audience to the movements and individuals who fought worldwide for women’s right to vote. (Nonfiction. 8-adult)Pub Date: Nov. 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-62371-964-7
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Crocodile/Interlink
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
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