A tale of how grassroots spirit and gritty determination can bloom into hope.
A New York Times journalist chronicles the experiences of a Girl Scout troop founded in a shelter in Queens, New York.
The main character in the narrative, Giselle, the founder of Troop 6000 and program manager at the Girl Scouts of Greater New York, was once homeless herself. Stewart begins with the hardships and the eviction that forced Giselle and her five children to move into the Sleep Inn shelter in Queens. In an accessible narrative that encompasses a range of social justice concerns, the author chronicles Giselle’s initial encounter with the Girl Scouts and the idea to begin a troop when she realized that the girls around her would benefit from its encouraging community. Stewart also provides some light history on the founder of the Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low, and the author's discussions of the backgrounds of friends at the shelter who helped Giselle illuminate themes of empowerment and overcoming personal challenges. From the troop's widespread media coverage, which included an appearance on The View, to managing the social dynamics of the group ("the Scouts...were growing more and more unappreciative"), Giselle comes across as a poised, resilient organizer whose own journey toward finding a better housing solution for her kids lends the story extra tension—especially when juxtaposed against such pleasant traditions as Camp Kaufmann and cookie sales. While the melodramatic lines that close many of the chapters—e.g., “Back to being homeless and dreaming of a day when they weren’t”; "In seven months, the family would be homeless"; “What good are keys if you don’t have a home?”—don't always ring true, Giselle's life on the page unfolds in a readable fashion calibrated for emotional, uplifting crescendos. Stewart is also wise to let the Scouts tell their own stories, offering a more nuanced perspective to the story. Featuring a sensitive treatment of a still-existing homelessness epidemic, this is an impassioned look at how Troop 6000 inspired others to form in its wake.
A tale of how grassroots spirit and gritty determination can bloom into hope. (b/w photos)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2075-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.
Enduring the unthinkable.
This memoir—the first by an Israeli taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023—chronicles the 491 days the author was held in Gaza. Confined to tunnels beneath war-ravaged streets, Sharabi was beaten, humiliated, and underfed. When he was finally released in February, he learned that Hamas had murdered his wife and two daughters. In the face of scarcely imaginable loss, Sharabi has crafted a potent record of his will to survive. The author’s ordeal began when Hamas fighters dragged him from his home, in a kibbutz near Gaza. Alongside others, he was held for months at a time in filthy subterranean spaces. He catalogs sensory assaults with novelistic specificity. Iron shackles grip his ankles. Broken toilets produce an “unbearable stink,” and “tiny white worms” swarm his toothbrush. He gets one meal a day, his “belly caving inward.” Desperate for more food, he stages a fainting episode, using a shaving razor to “slice a deep gash into my eyebrow.” Captors share their sweets while celebrating an Iranian missile attack on Israel. He and other hostages sneak fleeting pleasures, finding and downing an orange soda before a guard can seize it. Several times, Sharabi—51 when he was kidnapped—gives bracing pep talks to younger compatriots. The captives learn to control what they can, trading family stories and “lift[ing] water bottles like dumbbells.” Remarkably, there’s some levity. He and fellow hostages nickname one Hamas guard “the Triangle” because he’s shaped like a SpongeBob SquarePants character. The book’s closing scenes, in which Sharabi tries to console other hostages’ families while learning the worst about his own, are heartbreaking. His captors “are still human beings,” writes Sharabi, bravely modeling the forbearance that our leaders often lack.
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063489790
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Harper Influence/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Another chapter in a long fight against inequality.
Building on his Fighting Oligarchy tour, which this year drew 280,000 people to rallies in red and blue states, Sanders amplifies his enduring campaign for economic fairness. The Vermont senator offers well-timed advice for combating corruption and issues a robust plea for national soul-searching. His argument rests on alarming data on the widening wealth gap’s impact on democracy. Bolstered by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed campaign finance limits, “100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion” on 2024 elections. Sanders focuses on the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, describing their enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with its $1 trillion in tax breaks for the richest Americans and big social safety net cuts, as the “largest transfer of wealth” in living memory. But as is his custom, he spreads the blame, dinging Democrats for courting wealthy donors while ignoring the “needs and suffering” of the working class. “Trump filled the political vacuum that the Democrats created,” he writes, a resonant diagnosis. Urging readers not to surrender to despair, Sanders offers numerous legislative proposals. These would empower labor unions, cut the workweek to 32 hours, regulate campaign spending, reduce gerrymandering, and automatically register 18-year-olds to vote. Grassroots supporters can help by running for local office, volunteering with a campaign, and asking educators how to help support public schools. Meanwhile, Sanders asks us “to question the fundamental moral values that underlie” a system that enables “the top 1 percent” to “own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.” Though his prose sometimes reads like a transcribed speech with built-in applause lines, Sanders’ ideas are specific, clear, and commonsensical. And because it echoes previous statements, his call for collective introspection lands as genuine.
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798217089161
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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