A thoughtful blend of encouragement and entertaining personal stories.
Advice for teens is gleaned from the life of 16-year-old UCB Comedy performer Karp in this memoir.
Beginning with a Q-and-A session between Karp and Broad City actress Ilana Glazer, this offering goes on to discuss everything from white, Jewish Karp’s embrace of humor and feminism to her explanation of FOMO, or “fear of missing out,” which she feels is experienced by young people in regard to their use of social media and the difficulty many have in disconnecting themselves from it. She also parses bullying, pointing out that it’s rarely as clear-cut as is portrayed in popular culture, and frankly discusses sex education, advocating for the inclusion of much more instruction around rape. She displays a self-aware understanding both that some of her worries are problems of privilege but also that they are unfairly dismissed by some adults as teen angst. Teens will appreciate and easily identify with this multilayered experience of cultural power even if at times the writing feels a bit clichéd, as when she exhorts her readers to “Live your life the way you want to be living it” or to “Be the change.” Yet overwhelmingly, Karp’s conversational narrative is positive, direct, and embedded with a confidence that will appeal to like-minded youth.
A thoughtful blend of encouragement and entertaining personal stories. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-7624-6260-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Running Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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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