by Michael Miller ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2019
A useful, timely, if superficial, survey.
A look at the history of U.S. hate groups and their activities.
Charting the hatred baked into U.S. history, the text explores religious intolerance in Colonial America, slavery, Jim Crow, and anti-Semitism, among other topics. Examples of anti-immigrant bias include the over 2 million Mexican-Americans, mostly citizens, deported from the U.S. in the early 20th century. Anti-Chinese bias is mentioned but not the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II or targeted legislation to exclude Asian immigration. Homophobia, transphobia, Islamophobia, and male supremacy movements are also described. An enlightening discussion traces the history of laws against and prosecution of hate crimes and explains why the U.S. does not define hate crimes as domestic terrorism, a choice that’s been questioned and criticized because tools and resources for prosecuting terrorism are far stronger than for hate crimes. President Donald Trump’s racial and ethnic slurs, demeaning of women, and efforts to limit Muslim and Latin American immigration are called out. Access to firearms by hate groups is not mentioned. Portraits of white supremacy hate groups and anecdotes about resistance come across as glib. The heavy focus on individuals and groups of private citizens works against depth by limiting the exploration of institutional structures and policies that support inequality and fuel hatred, a particularly glaring oversight when considering the scant treatment of Indigenous peoples in this work.
A useful, timely, if superficial, survey. (glossary, notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5415-3925-9
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2019
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by Tracy Kidder ; adapted by Michael French ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 9, 2013
An important story that feels like it breathes a dose of virtuous oxygen right into readers' heads. (Nonfiction. 12-16)
The story of a doctor’s quest to heal the sick in a poor Haitian community and beyond.
Dr. Paul Farmer is one of those characters the world could use a few more of, which is why it is great to have this book to put in as many young hands as possible. He saw something his conscience simply could not abide—the medical neglect of poor people—and then went and did something about it, setting up a clinic to serve the medical needs of an impoverished Haitian neighborhood. But he is everywhere else as well, from Peru to Russia, a powerhouse for medical good. He has a wonderful way of screwing down on some of the worst behaviors of humanity—how we habituate ourselves to the misery of others, the absurd self-regard of the medical profession—while (mostly) not coming across as churlish or self-righteous. French has done a fine job of adapting Kidder's book for young readers, almost invisibly tinkering with the original storytelling while not dodging any of Farmer’s obsessive characteristics or forceful arguments. The power of the story, of the need to just get things done since there are always resources to tap if the cause is just, pours forth as Kidder intended.
An important story that feels like it breathes a dose of virtuous oxygen right into readers' heads. (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 9, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-385-74318-1
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
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IN THE NEWS
by Shyima Hall with Lisa Wysocky ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 21, 2014
The proximity to pain makes for a choppy narrative but also vitally draws attention to a global crisis
This memoir of modern domestic slavery ends with hope and determination, as young author Hall (born Shyima El-Sayed Hassan) is “one of the fortunate 2 percent” to be freed from servitude.
Shyima’s childhood in Egypt ends when her parents are blackmailed into turning over their 8-year-old daughter to a wealthy couple. Every day, Shyima cleans the five-story house and the 17-car garage, “standing on a stool doing the dishes” because she’s too tiny to reach the sink. When she’s 10, Shyima’s captors move to California, illegally trafficking her into the U.S. After two more years of hard labor and increasing ill health, a worried neighbor calls the police, and Shyima’s journey into freedom begins. A chain of Muslim and Christian foster parents (some protective, others exploitative) leads her to become an anti-slavery activist. Unsurprisingly, Hall’s representations of Arab and Muslim men are filtered through her appalling experiences. Though she acknowledges misogyny “is not what the Muslim faith is about,” readers should expect to find depictions that hew closely to negative stereotypes. Those readers prepared to brave a dense, adult tome could move from Hall’s memoir to John Bowe’s Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy (2007) for a deeper look.
The proximity to pain makes for a choppy narrative but also vitally draws attention to a global crisis . (Nonfiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8168-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
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