Electrifying.
A cycle of free verse poems carries readers from 1773 to “tomorrow,” focusing on the lives of six Black Americans whose experiences represent centuries of ferocious resistance to extraordinary oppression.
These figures are Ona Judge, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama. A prefatory note explains to readers that this is “a work of creative nonfiction told in…story-poems—flash lines of verse, prose, and quotes—anchored in historical facts.” The author previously demonstrated his straight nonfiction chops with Now or Never! (2017), his splendid account of Black journalists in the Civil War; here he proves equally adept at the more emotive form of poetry. Rooting the events presented in documented history, Shepard distills them into concentrated bursts of truth. In the section on Wells and her decadeslong campaign against lynching, he writes: “More than two hundred Black / children, women, and men were dead / in a two-day attack by Whites / from three states. / History called it a race riot not a massacre / as if the sharecroppers / had burned their own bodies.” Christie’s section-heading black-and-white scenes are as starkly powerful as the poems. The information presented is kaleidoscopic rather than comprehensive; readers will come away with clear senses of who these individuals were and what motivated them, while formidable backmatter, including a lengthy timeline, further reading, bibliography, and source notes, provides avenues for them to fill in the gaps.
Electrifying. (index) (Verse nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2023
ISBN: 9781662680663
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Calkins Creek/Astra Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A positive, informative account best suited for the author’s more than 1 million YouTube subscribers and social media...
With an assist from Ohlin, dancer-turned–reality star–turned-actress-turned–internet sensation Lukasiak offers advice for conquering bullying, overcoming shyness, following dreams, and growing up in the spotlight.
Packaged in pastels, purples, eggshells, and generous photos, all chapters begin with motivational quotes from various sources, including philosopher Søren Kierkegaard, actor Michael J. Fox, singer Taylor Swift, and the author herself, among several others. Speaking in first person and in nonlinear fashion, Lukasiak begins the book declaring, “I had a different path ahead of me—a shiny, wonderful, yet-to-be-revealed path.” Many readers will note that a white teenager pens this remark and wonder whether she fully comprehends its undertone of unearned privilege. The perpetually bullied and self-proclaimed shy dork delves into the hardships she has endured under the camera’s lens and advises peers how to best take care of themselves. Personal anecdotes, listicles, short stories, memories, social media posts, and poetry are interjected generously, often breaking up the message in each chapter. Though the presentation emulates the storied distractibility of the book’s audience, it is not idyllic for focusing on messages of betterment.
A positive, informative account best suited for the author’s more than 1 million YouTube subscribers and social media followers; others can give it a pass. (photographs, epilogue) (Memoir. 12-16)Pub Date: Jan. 23, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68119-737-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 9, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2017
An up-to-date if not in-depth introduction to a topic that has certainly affected many people’s lives throughout the ages.
Royal weddings, a campaign for toilets in India linked to marriage, and trash-the-dress photo shoots (a new U.S. custom) are introduced in this whirlwind tour of courtship, marriage, and divorce.
Using catchy chapter headings (“Control Freaks” focuses on the historical, political, and economic reasons for marriage), this slim volume offers a cursory glance at marriage in many religions, the ancient world, and some contemporary cultures, primarily the U.S. and Great Britain. China, Japan, and India are mentioned, while most European cultures are lumped together. The chapter on polygamy, “More Ways Than One,” starts off highlighting Zulu traditions with Jacob Zuma, the South African president with four current wives. Scant information about Latin America, the Middle East, and the Pacific region appears. Same-sex marriage and interfaith and interracial marriage are covered in “Forbidden Love,” which starts with celebrity couples such as David Bowie and Iman (white and black, Christian and Muslim) and Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka (two men). The legal struggles for interracial marriage (1967 Loving v. Virginia) and same-sex marriage (2015 Obergefell v. Hodges) are summarized, but the last sentence of the chapter again refers back to famous couples. This celebrity approach and such sections as “Over-the-Top Weddings,” along with references to YouTube and Vimeo, seem meant to ensure teen interest. Photographs (mostly in color) are clear and relevant. Readers can tease out interesting takes on feminism and women’s history. Some self-help sidebars on dating and relationships are generalized and superfluous.
An up-to-date if not in-depth introduction to a topic that has certainly affected many people’s lives throughout the ages. (source notes, glossary, selected bibliography, further information, index) (Nonfiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4677-9242-4
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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