A clear call for change as well as a chorus of affirmation that change is possible.
Girl Power in the Third World and elsewhere.
Presented in support of the “Because I am a Girl” initiative, which was co-founded by McCarney under the aegis of the international children’s aid organization Plan, this takes as its foundation the organization’s eight-point manifesto. The book offers a mix of uplifting personal testimonials and disquieting statistics on girls’ education, forced marriage and slavery in, mostly, developing countries. Color photos aplenty depict girls and young women—most identified by a first name that is changed at need for their protection—in dozens of countries (Canada included) working, going to school or posing with confident smiles. Though the narratives are all written in the same style and voice, they relate individually distinct tales of girls courageously speaking out and setting their eyes on the prize of an education in the face of family responsibilities, extreme poverty, sexual assault and other obstacles. Readers inspired to pledge direct or indirect support (or, for that matter, check the statistics) will have to look elsewhere for advice and leads to further information, but the urgency of the cause and the triumphs of these small victories are compellingly expressed.
A clear call for change as well as a chorus of affirmation that change is possible. (Nonfiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-927583-44-9
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Second Story Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 13, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will agree when, in the triumphant final poem, an assured Addie proclaims: “I am a girl who knows enough / to know...
In this companion novel, Howe explores the interior life of the most outspoken member of the “Gang of Five” from The Misfits and Totally Joe (2001, 2005).
Told entirely in verse, the story follows 13-year-old Addie’s struggles to define herself according to her own terms. Through her poems, Addie reflects on her life and life in general: her first boyfriend, what it means to be accepted and her endeavors to promote equality. Addie is at her most fragile when she examines her relationship with her boyfriend and the cruel behavior of her former best friend. Her forthright observations address serious topics with a maturity beyond her age. She contemplates the tragedy of teen suicide in “What If” and decries the practice of forced marriages in “What We Don’t Know,” stating “…And their mothers / have no power to change how it goes. They too / have been beaten and raped, sold and traded like / disposable goods, owned by men, while the only thing / they own is their misery…” Addie’s voice gains confidence when she takes on the role of an advocate, as when she reveals her reasons for forming the GSA (Gay Straight Alliance) at school in “No One is Free When Others Are Oppressed (A Button on My Backpack).” Bolstered by the sage advice of her grandmother, Addie charts a steady course through her turbulent seventh-grade year.
Readers will agree when, in the triumphant final poem, an assured Addie proclaims: “I am a girl who knows enough / to know this life is mine.” (author's note) (Verse novel. 11-14)Pub Date: July 26, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1384-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
Cogent and stirring, this very readable book focuses on the Jim Crow era, that period between 1896 and 1954, a shameful time in U.S. history framed by two landmark Supreme Court cases.
From the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court sanctioned “separate but equal,” until Brown v. Board of Education, a case that found school segregation unconstitutional, African-Americans, even post-slavery, were subjected to injustice, brutality, humiliation and discrimination in education, housing, employment and government and military service. Osborne expertly guides readers through this painful, turbulent time of segregation, enabling them to understand fully the victims’ struggles and triumphs as they worked courageously to set things right. The seamless narrative benefits from handsome design: Accompanying the author’s excellent text, which is illuminated by many quotes, are superb contemporary photos, set into the text, scrapbook-style, and other primary-source documents from the archives of the Library of Congress. The visuals and captions add much to readers’ comprehension of the period, the difficulties African-Americans endured and their hard-won victories. Readers will come away moved, saddened, troubled by this stain on their country’s past and filled with abiding respect for those who fought and overcame. (timeline, notes, bibliography, note on sources) (Nonfiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0020-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
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