A nuanced and overall celebratory story.
An overview of the astonishing range of vital community services public libraries offer (and have offered) in the United States.
Tracing their origin back to 18th-century subscription libraries, Loonin chronicles the growth of public libraries and library systems in this country—but her focus remains fairly steadily on highlighting their founding principles of open access in the service of promoting informed citizenship and their central roles as “third places” (after homes and schools or workplaces), where communities can gather to exchange values and views. She’s refreshingly frank about library benefactor Andrew Carnegie’s harsh anti-labor tactics, systemic flaws in the Dewey Decimal System, the personal failings of its inventor, Melvil Dewey, and instances where libraries haven’t lived up to their “free to all” ideals, due to censorship demands or prejudice against racial and immigrant groups. But Loonin can rightly claim that in general, public libraries have a proud history of resisting such pressures in defense of both intellectual freedom and freedom of opportunity. The book includes a dazzling recounting of services and programs promoting job skills and multiple types of literacy, special children’s and teen spaces and services, lending libraries of tools and other objects, and outreach to underserved populations (from the Appalachian packhorse librarians to efforts to bridge the digital divide). Photos show diverse library users and library settings.
A nuanced and overall celebratory story. (source notes, for further research, index, picture credits) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2026
ISBN: 9781678213480
Page Count: 64
Publisher: ReferencePoint Press
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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