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TWENTY-TWO CENTS

Name: TWENTY-TWO CENTS
Author: Paula Yoo
ISBN: 978-1-60060-658-8

THE STORY OF MUHAMMAD YUNUS

by Paula Yoo ; illustrated by Jamel Akib ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2014

A heart-gladdening testament to pulling your own suspenders tight, with a little help from your friends.

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Microbanks aren’t new, although they are gaining prominence. Here is the story of the first—or at least the formal first—and the one that gained the most notoriety.

Muhammad Yunus grows up in the far-eastern part of India before Partition, in what is now Bangladesh. Although his father makes a decent living, Muhammad is exposed to poverty every day, from beggars at his door to the poor encampments he sees during his Boy Scout excursions. He graduates university, and each day as he walks to work, he passes a woman making stools from bamboo; she is obviously in dire financial straits. He stops to speak with her, to learn her circumstances. Yoo tells the story clearly and unflinchingly, though compassionately, explaining to readers the dreadful trap of the debt cycle. That is lesson No. 1 in this book: The debt cycle is a global plague. Yunus realizes that a simple monetary gift will not help the women out of poverty, but a tiny loan that brings her and other village women into entrepreneurship can. This is lesson No. 2 and what earns Yunus the Noble Peace Prize. Akib’s artwork is drawn in hot shades of pastel that are at once unforgiving and exhilarating.

A heart-gladdening testament to pulling your own suspenders tight, with a little help from your friends. (Picture book/biography. 6-11)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-60060-658-8

Page Count: 40

Publisher: Lee & Low Books

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

- BOOK REVIEW
FROM A WHISPER TO A RALLYING CRY
by Paula Yoo

- BOOK REVIEW
THE PERFECT GIFT
by Paula Yoo ; illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez

- BOOK REVIEW
LILY'S NEW HOME
by Paula Yoo ; illustrated by Shirley Ng-Benitez

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STACEY'S REMARKABLE BOOKS

by Stacey Abrams ; illustrated by Kitt Thomas ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 13, 2022

A worthy message delivered with a generous dose of inclusivity.

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Sharing books brings children from multiple backgrounds together in this companion to Stacey’s Extraordinary Words (2021).

Again lightly burnishing actual childhood memories, voting rights activist and former gubernatorial candidate Abrams recalls reaching out as a young book lover to Julie, a new Vietnamese classmate shy about reading in English. Choosing books to read and discuss together on weekly excursions to the school’s library, the two are soon joined by enough other children from Gambia, South Korea, and elsewhere that their beaming librarian, Mr. McCormick, who is dark-skinned, sets up an after-school club. Later, Julie adds some give and take to their friendship by helping Stacey overcome her own reluctance to join the other children on the playground. Though views of the library seen through a faint golden haze flecked with stars go a little over the top (school librarians may disagree), Thomas fills the space with animated, bright-eyed young faces clustering intimately together over books and rendered in various shades beneath a range of hairstyles and head coverings. The author underscores the diversity of the cast by slipping scattered comments in Spanish, Wolof, and other languages into the dialogue and, after extolling throughout the power of books and stories to make new friends as well as open imaginations to new experiences and identities, brings all of her themes together in an afterword capped by an excellent list of recommended picture books. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A worthy message delivered with a generous dose of inclusivity. (Picture-book memoir. 6-9)

Pub Date: Dec. 13, 2022

ISBN: 978-0-06-327185-2

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022

Categories:

CHILDREN'S BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR

- BOOK REVIEW
STACEY’S EXTRAORDINARY WORDS
by Stacey Abrams ; illustrated by Kitt Thomas

- PERSPECTIVES
Dismiss All Celebrity Picture Books? Not So Fast

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LUCY MAUD MONTGOMERY

A WRITER’S LIFE

by Elizabeth MacLeod ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

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Readers who have just discovered Anne Shirley of Green Gables and are wondering where she came from will find at least the beginnings of an answer in this fresh, frank picture-book biography. Montgomery comes across as a generous spirit, with both an independent streak and a strong sense of duty. MacLeod sketches both her public and private lives, pointing out real people, places, or incidents that appeared later in her books. She quotes income figures ($12,000 in 1914: as much as the Canadian Prime Minister) and describes, among other details, her youthful infatuation for one man, her secret engagement to another, and, years later, her long struggle to keep her husband's mental illness a secret. On every spread, montages of contemporary photos, portraits, book covers, quotes, memorabilia, manuscript pages, reviews, and film stills add a visual backdrop to this engaging glimpse of Canada's most famous author. A sketched figure of Maud points to important opinions or pieces of information. Montgomery's other books get a glance too, and there is a complete list at the end, along with lists of sites to visit, both in Canada and on the Web. A terrific format for an appealing subject. (index) (Biography. 9-11)