A riveting and highly moving dog story that’s marred by clumsy design.
Judy, an English pointer caught up in World War II, formed a solid bond with a young British airman, Frank Williams, and exhibited remarkable heroism.
Judy was hated by the Japanese who ran the prison camp where she and Frank were held for over three years, so he taught her how to keep out of their sight. Yet time after time, she risked her life to protect the prisoners and is credited with saving many lives. During one harrowing episode, the ship the Japanese were using to transport the prisoners was torpedoed. Frank pushed her out a porthole and was later able to save himself. In the water, Judy dragged one drowning man after another to safety. This adaptation of the original book for adults, also titled No Better Friend (2015), includes numerous lengthy sidebars, written for the young readers’ edition, that are interesting and informative but unnecessarily interrupt the flow of the narrative with an annoying frequency. More useful are the many period photographs included. The brutality—near-starvation diet, rampant disease, frequent beatings, etc.—that characterized the prisoner-of-war camps in the Pacific theater is not minimized, but the focus of the story is more on the traits that made Judy such an extraordinary and meritorious canine and the attachment that she shared with Frank.
A riveting and highly moving dog story that’s marred by clumsy design. (Nonfiction. 11-18)Pub Date: May 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-34467-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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