Helpful for those seeking background about the movement directly from those involved and inspiring to those who wish to join...
Feb. 14, 2018, will go down as one of the most horrific days in U.S. history.
The murder of 17 students and teachers from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in a mass shooting by a former classmate sparked the March for Our Lives movement and nonprofit organization. As the survivors decided that #NeverAgain would they sit by while mass shootings happened in their country, they got to work controlling the narrative rather than allowing the story to be forgotten in the next news cycle. This volume, written by the student founders of March for Our Lives, includes poetry, personal essays, conversations, and excerpts from speeches that trace events from the immediate aftermath of the tragedy to the present day. Paragraphs at the beginning of each section introduce contributors and provide context. Ample color photographs illustrate the young people’s nationwide reach. The message of political activism is clearly repeated throughout the book, which ends on a note of hope with a list of 10 policy reforms, including funding research into gun violence as a public health matter and legislation around gun sales, trafficking, and technology. While the quality of the writing is variable, teen readers will recognize and respond to the sincere passion of the sentiments expressed.
Helpful for those seeking background about the movement directly from those involved and inspiring to those who wish to join their cause. (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-984836-09-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2018
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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