A tale of persistence amid invisible illness.
Young activist Goodreau recounts how she became an advocate for people with Lyme disease.
In second grade, Goodreau began suffering blackouts, vision loss, and shooting pains. She saw over 50 specialists in one year to no avail; doctors blamed her symptoms on hypochondria or the Colorado altitude. Finally, in third grade, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease—but antibiotics didn’t work. Though a doctor declared she’d have Lyme her whole life because of delayed treatment, Goodreau, always adventurous, resolved to get better. She created Lyme fundraising challenges on social media, and celebrities and politicians took up the cause. But school bullies targeted her, and as her fame increased, people even accused Goodreau of faking. Undaunted, Goodreau, who presents White, started the LivLyme foundation at age 12 to help families dealing with Lyme disease. Further advocacy included creating TickTracker, an award-winning app, and helping Sen. Susan Collins pass the Kay Hagan Act, which funded research for tick-borne diseases. Though her narrative is somewhat disjointed, interspersed letters to parents, kids, doctors, researchers, and politicians offer insightful advice. Suggestions include reminding parents to be mindful of their children’s feelings, encouraging kids to defend bullied classmates, and urging doctors to be persistent in finding solutions. Acceptance from her new high school classmates and improved health—after a regimen including 86 daily pills and a leprosy drug—provide a hopeful conclusion. Sidebars offer facts about Lyme disease.
A tale of persistence amid invisible illness. (Memoir. 12-adult)Pub Date: May 9, 2023
ISBN: 9781592112104
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Gaudium
Review Posted Online: April 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2023
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 fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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