A tremendously thought-provoking (re)construction of Latinx experiences.
Fifteen Latinx writers lend their voices and experiences to acutely personal narratives and poetry.
In her introduction, editor and contributor Fennell provides a mission statement, one centered on “letting our truths run wild, and pushing against whatever it is you think is the ideal Latinx individual.” The truth, it seems, is undefinable and utterly human, with recurring themes cropping up throughout the collection: questions around mental health in Latinx communities, colorism and racism, the boundaries of language (known and unknown), and finding comfort and familiarity in food. Mark Oshiro’s “Eres Un Pocho” opens the anthology with an interrogation of what “it means to be Latino, what it means to be queer,” and the drawbacks of assimilation. In Meg Medina’s “The Mark of a Good Man,” the heartbreaking tale of a Cuban uncle’s arrival in the U.S. underscores the potency of migration and the limits of the American dream. Meanwhile, Kahlil Haywood’s “Paraíso Negro” recounts the writer’s numerous trips to Panama and a slow examination of Afro-Latinx identity, while Ibi Zoboi’s “Haitian Sensation” complicates and explores what it means to be Haitian, Black, and perhaps (not) Afro-Latina. This volume presents an impressive roster of voices from an array of cultural backgrounds claimed and unclaimed. The contradictions and interplays that emerge between essays serve to illuminate the immeasurable realities of the Latinx diaspora.
A tremendously thought-provoking (re)construction of Latinx experiences. (about the authors) (Nonfiction anthology. 12-18)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-76342-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PROFILES
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author.
Deaf, trans artist Man meditates on his journey and identity in this brief memoir.
Growing up in conservative central Pennsylvania was tough for the 21-year-old Deaf, genderqueer, pansexual, and biracial (Chinese/White Jewish) author. He describes his gender and sexual identity, his experiences of racism and ableism, and his desire to use his visibility as a YouTube personality, model, and actor to help other young people like him. He is open and vulnerable throughout, even choosing to reveal his birth name. Man shares his experiences of becoming deaf as a small child and at times feeling ostracized from the Deaf community but not how he arrived at his current Deaf identity. His description of his gender-identity development occasionally slips into a well-worn pink-and-blue binary. The text is accompanied and transcended by the author’s own intriguing, expressionistic line drawings. However, Man ultimately falls short of truly insightful reflection or analysis, offering a mostly surface-level account of his life that will likely not be compelling to readers who are not already fans. While his visibility and success as someone whose life represents multiple marginalized identities are valuable in themselves, this heartfelt personal chronicle would have benefited from deeper introspection.
Best enjoyed by preexisting fans of the author. (Memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-22348-2
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style....
As she does in previous volumes—Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing (2008) and The Grammar Devotional (2009)—Fogarty affects an earnest and upbeat tone to dissuade those who think a grammar book has to be “annoying, boring, and confusing” and takes on the role of “grammar guide, intent on demystifying grammar.”
Like many grammar books, this starts with parts of speech and goes on to sentence structure, punctuation, usage and style. Fogarty works hard to find amusing, even cheeky examples to illustrate the many faux pas she discusses: "Squiggly presumed that Grammar Girl would flinch when she saw the word misspelled as alot." Young readers may well look beyond the cheery tone and friendly cover, though, and find a 300+-page text that looks suspiciously schoolish and isn't really that different from the grammar texts they have known for years (and from which they have still not learned a lot of grammar). As William Strunk said in his introduction to the first edition of the little The Elements of Style, the most useful grammar guide concentrates attention “on a few essentials, the rules of usage and principles of composition most commonly violated.” After that, “Students profit most by individual instruction based on the problems of their own work.” By being exhaustive, Fogarty may well have created just the kind of volume she hoped to avoid.Pub Date: July 5, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8943-1
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2011
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