A passionate, opinionated, and wide-ranging work.
Salutes to a diverse array of modern achievers from Celia Cruz, Queen of Salsa, to immigrant activist Sophie Cruz, born in 2010.
How many of Mancillas’ selections “changed the world” is moot, but all certainly left their marks on it. Some did so literally, like artists Frida Kahlo and Jean-Michel Basquiat, while others, such as storyteller Pura Belpré, flamboyant celebrity astrologer Walter Mercado, and singer/songwriter Shakira, have left a mark in real but less tangible ways. Monolingual despite the title and arranged roughly by birth year, the entries start with a quick identifier (most commonly a variation on “Activist”) and national “Heritage” for each subject, then move on to profiles highlighted by star-flanked summations in larger type to facilitate quick scanning. Emotion often runs high: Gabriela Mistral “was born with the heart of a poet”; in Congress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “was targeted in ways that stank of sexism and prejudice.” Though the biographical specifics tend to be slight, Mancillas includes multiple leads to further information about everyone at the end. Both Mancillas and Zeferino effectively cast their subjects in heroic molds that will appeal to young readers in need of role models. Better yet, the diversity of achievement they celebrate encompasses strides in gender and disability rights as well as groundbreaking feats by social warriors, scientists, athletes, artisans, and more.
A passionate, opinionated, and wide-ranging work. (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2025
ISBN: 9781797211985
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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
More a historical narrative than a character portrait, this account of Tecumseh’s efforts to create a tribal confederacy in the Old Northwest focuses on the great Shawnee leader’s many battles and negotiations with then–Territorial Governor William Henry Harrison and then his disastrous—ultimately fatal—alliance with the British during the War of 1812. Replete with side essays on such varied subtopics as the Northwest Territory, the New Madrid earthquakes of 1811-12 and the Battle of Lake Erie, it also boasts often–full-color illustrations from archival sources (many of these later paintings and old prints that are inaccurate, as the discursive captions often rightly note, and sometimes too small to make out anyway). In all, this will provide students a coherent view of events if not a clear understanding of Shawnee culture or Tecumseh’s heroic personal qualities. If it's not the 100-page holy grail of middle-grade biographies, it is still pretty close. (glossary, bibliography, source notes, index) (Biography. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-6847-7
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Dec. 29, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
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