A powerful antidote to whitewashed cultural mythology.
The true story of a young enslaved woman who escapes the family of George Washington.
“Ona Judge, Ona Judge / Why you run away / Ona Judge?” So begins this inquiry into her quest for freedom; the question is repeated throughout the narrative. “You had fine dresses [and] soft shoes” and other material benefits most enslaved people lacked. Ona is passed around the Washington family, first a playmate for the children, then a personal servant and seamstress for Martha Washington, never working in the fields. But when an aging Martha gives Ona to her granddaughter Eliza, “now a mean and sassy woman,” Ona walks out into the Philadelphia night. Here, the tenor of the text changes—“Didn’t you know you broke the law?”—and the illustrations become dark as she makes her way around corners and hides in a basement. A framed picture—a departure from the full-bleed pages and spreads that depict the current action—gives a glimpse of her future family life: “You dreamed a dream / You would make true.” As she reaches a boat, and freedom, day breaks and readers see the first hint of Ona’s smile. “Then run, Ona Judge, run.” With a distinctive, haunting voice, powerful images, and thought-provoking story structure, this unique look at a remarkable young woman’s life choices and decisions offers an utterly necessary but seldom highlighted perspective on the contradictions within our society’s foundations. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-17-inch double-page spreads viewed at 42.1% of actual size.)
A powerful antidote to whitewashed cultural mythology. (author’s note, timeline, bibliography, places to visit) (Informational picture book. 4-9)Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-374-30704-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Lovely illustrations wasted on this misguided project.
The Celebrate the World series spotlights Lunar New Year.
This board book blends expository text and first-person-plural narrative, introducing readers to the holiday. Chau’s distinctive, finely textured watercolor paintings add depth, transitioning smoothly from a grand cityscape to the dining room table, from fantasies of the past to dumplings of the present. The text attempts to provide a broad look at the subject, including other names for the celebration, related cosmology, and historical background, as well as a more-personal discussion of traditions and practices. Yet it’s never clear who the narrator is—while the narrative indicates the existence of some consistent, monolithic group who participates in specific rituals of celebration (“Before the new year celebrations begin, we clean our homes—and ourselves!”), the illustrations depict different people in every image. Indeed, observances of Lunar New Year are as diverse as the people who celebrate it, which neither the text nor the images—all of the people appear to be Asian—fully acknowledges. Also unclear is the book’s intended audience. With large blocks of explication on every spread, it is entirely unappealing for the board-book set, and the format may make it equally unattractive to an older, more appropriate audience. Still, readers may appreciate seeing an important celebration warmly and vibrantly portrayed.
Lovely illustrations wasted on this misguided project. (Board book. 4-8)Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5344-3303-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 4, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2019
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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