by Marc Zimmer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 2022
Timely, practical, and all too important.
A primer on the practice and evaluation of science for teen readers.
Using summaries of scientific discoveries to form a narrative, straightforward text describes the tenets of science and the ways in which they are challenged in current public discourse. Included is information on the process of peer review, the rise of internet disinformation, common cognitive biases, the politicization of established facts, and the techniques of scam artists. A final chapter sums up 20 rules to help readers distinguish legitimate research from spurious claims. Perhaps most useful for anyone in today’s information economy is the following advice: “Beware if a piece of news or a social media post stirs up intense feelings, especially outrage. It was most likely designed to short-circuit your critical-thinking skills by playing on your emotions.” Valuable too is the identification of clickbait and the guidance on reading peer-reviewed scientific articles. The no-nonsense narration is effective and illuminating, particularly the analogy comparing the mystery of nature to a jigsaw puzzle without a box: “scientists need to find the pieces and put them in the correct place.” The context offered here should allow budding scholars to do just that.
Timely, practical, and all too important. (glossary, source notes, bibliography, further reading, index, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-72841-945-9
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Dec. 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2022
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PERSPECTIVES
by Adam Eli ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 2, 2020
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
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by Shavone Charles ; illustrated by Ashley Lukashevsky
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by Wes Moore ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 11, 2012
Though awkward, this adaptation still makes for a hopeful and inspiring story.
This story, an adaptation for young people of the adult memoir The Other Wes Moore (2008), explores the lives of two young African-American men who share the same name and grew up impoverished on the same inner-city streets but wound up taking completely different paths.
Author Moore grew up with a devoted mother and extended family. After receiving poor grades and falling in with a bad crowd, his family pooled their limited finances to send him to Valley Forge Military Academy, where he found positive role models and became a Corps commander and star athlete. After earning an undergraduate degree, Wes attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. When the author read about the conviction of another Wes Moore for armed robbery and killing a police officer, he wanted to find out how two youths growing up at the same time in the same place could take such divergent paths. The author learns that the other Wes never had the extensive family support, the influential mentors or the lucky breaks he enjoyed. Unfortunately, the other Wes Moore is not introduced until over two-thirds of the way through the narrative. The story of the other Wes is heavily truncated and rushed, as is the author's conclusion, in which he argues earnestly and convincingly that young people can overcome the obstacles in their lives when they make the right choices and accept the support of caring adults.
Though awkward, this adaptation still makes for a hopeful and inspiring story. (Memoir. 12 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-74167-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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