by Patrisse Khan-Cullors & asha bandele ; adapted by Benee Knauer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 29, 2020
A gripping, much-needed memoir about a Black woman, a movement, and people fighting for freedom denied.
In this young readers’ adaptation of the 2018 original, a Black Lives Matter co-founder recounts growing up in a society that sought to punish her mere existence.
Using journal entries, Khan-Cullors recalls with sometimes excruciating detail finding and developing aspects of herself that would cumulatively create her identity. From stories of her biological and chosen family to her wider community, the writing overflows with honesty, compassion, courage, and love. The many unjust interactions she and her community have had with law enforcement make for a heart-wrenching read. Still, the author and activist maintains a message of action-based hope, life-sustaining love, and community support. With assistance from co-author bandele, a noted writer and journalist, Khan-Cullors shares private and public challenges and victories. Readers will understand and connect the traumas experienced by Black people in America for centuries, from Jim Crow to the war on drugs to modern-day slavery in the form of the prison system. Most importantly, the authors share principles and beliefs that speak to what is needed to facilitate and achieve necessary changes to a blood-stained, toxic, fatal disease of American society. Part memoir, part call to action, the message is clear: Black Lives Matter despite systems and inhumane practices that say otherwise. Questions for readers at the end of each chapter will prompt discussion and awakening and even inspire action.
A gripping, much-needed memoir about a Black woman, a movement, and people fighting for freedom denied. (recommended reading and viewing) (Memoir. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-19498-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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PERSPECTIVES
by Michael Bronski ; adapted by Richie Chevat ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 11, 2019
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future.
An adaptation for teens of the adult title A Queer History of the United States (2011).
Divided into thematic sections, the text filters LGBTQIA+ history through key figures in each era from the 1500s to the present. Alongside watershed moments like the 1969 Stonewall uprising and the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s and 1990s, the text brings to light less well-known people, places, and events: the 1625 free love colony of Merrymount, transgender Civil War hero Albert D.J. Cashier, and the 1951 founding of the Mattachine Society, to name a few. Throughout, the author and adapter take care to use accurate pronouns and avoid imposing contemporary terminology onto historical figures. In some cases, they quote primary sources to speculate about same-sex relationships while also reminding readers of past cultural differences in expressing strong affection between friends. Black-and-white illustrations or photos augment each chapter. Though it lacks the teen appeal and personable, conversational style of Sarah Prager’s Queer, There, and Everywhere (2017), this textbook-level survey contains a surprising amount of depth. However, the mention of transgender movements and activism—in particular, contemporary issues—runs on the slim side. Whereas chapters are devoted to over 30 ethnically diverse gay, lesbian, bisexual, or queer figures, some trans pioneers such as Christine Jorgensen and Holly Woodlawn are reduced to short sidebars.
Though not the most balanced, an enlightening look back for the queer future. (glossary, photo credits, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 11, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-8070-5612-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: March 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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by Tracy Kidder ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 2003
Skilled and graceful exploration of the soul of an astonishing human being.
Full-immersion journalist Kidder (Home Town, 1999, etc.) tries valiantly to keep up with a front-line, muddy-and-bloody general in the war against infectious disease in Haiti and elsewhere.
The author occasionally confesses to weariness in this gripping account—and why not? Paul Farmer, who has an M.D. and a Ph.D. from Harvard, appears to be almost preternaturally intelligent, productive, energetic, and devoted to his causes. So trotting alongside him up Haitian hills, through international airports and Siberian prisons and Cuban clinics, may be beyond the capacity of a mere mortal. Kidder begins with a swift account of his first meeting with Farmer in Haiti while working on a story about American soldiers, then describes his initial visit to the doctor’s clinic, where the journalist felt he’d “encountered a miracle.” Employing guile, grit, grins, and gifts from generous donors (especially Boston contractor Tom White), Farmer has created an oasis in Haiti where TB and AIDS meet their Waterloos. The doctor has an astonishing rapport with his patients and often travels by foot for hours over difficult terrain to treat them in their dwellings (“houses” would be far too grand a word). Kidder pauses to fill in Farmer’s amazing biography: his childhood in an eccentric family sounds like something from The Mosquito Coast; a love affair with Roald Dahl’s daughter ended amicably; his marriage to a Haitian anthropologist produced a daughter whom he sees infrequently thanks to his frenetic schedule. While studying at Duke and Harvard, Kidder writes, Farmer became obsessed with public health issues; even before he’d finished his degrees he was spending much of his time in Haiti establishing the clinic that would give him both immense personal satisfaction and unsurpassed credibility in the medical worlds he hopes to influence.
Skilled and graceful exploration of the soul of an astonishing human being.Pub Date: Sept. 16, 2003
ISBN: 0-375-50616-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2003
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by Tracy Kidder ; adapted by Michael French
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