A fast-paced tale that will spark curiosity—Dr. Apgar would approve.
DasGupta, herself a physician, picks up her pen to add the story of pioneering female physician Virginia Apgar to the growing pantheon presented in the She Persisted series.
Though the name Apgar might be familiar to many adults, young audiences meeting her for the first time will find a worthy hero in these pages. Virginia was born in New Jersey in 1909 and was a go-getter from the very start. Her family was not wealthy, but education and curiosity were prized. Even though there were very few female physicians at the time, Virginia knew from a young age that she wanted to study medicine. From childhood and through her career, she gained a reputation as a “fast talker, fast thinker and fast mover” who would let nothing stand in her way. When sexism blocked her path to a career in surgery, she pivoted to the field of anesthesiology, where she would make her greatest impact in obstetrics, pioneering the infant health assessment that now bears her name. Drawing on primary sources and refraining from speculation while always being mindful of her chapter-book audience, DasGupta offers a biography that is just right for young readers eager for independence. Flint’s airy illustrations serve to illuminate the text in a charming style, depicting Apgar and most of her contemporaries as White. Tips on persistence and sources round out the book.
A fast-paced tale that will spark curiosity—Dr. Apgar would approve. (Biography. 6-9)Pub Date: April 6, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11577-0
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
A compact but cogent tribute to a single voice for change that now leads a rising chorus.
The origin story of the teenage climate change superhero.
Once, as she puts it, “the invisible girl in the back who doesn’t say anything,” Thunberg has, over just the last two years, become a major young presence in the environmental movement, inspiring “Friday school strikes” worldwide and challenging governing bodies to get off the stick: “I want you to panic,” she told the World Economic Forum in Davos. “I want you to act as if the house was on fire. Because it is.” Skipping Thunberg’s personal history aside from characterizing her as one who “could think about one thing for a long, long time” (an ability Thunberg associates with her Asperger’s diagnosis, unnamed here), Winter pithily retraces the course of her transformation. She begins with a teacher’s lecture on climate change and a period of intense reading and video watching and then goes on to show how Thunberg’s lonely Friday picket outside Stockholm’s Parliament building gains local, then international, support. The illustrations, equally spare, often place the white teenager front and center before culminating in a double-page spread filled with children of diverse hues and styles of dress holding up signs reading “Don’t Burn MY Future” and like urgent messages, followed by a direct question in big, cut-out letters: “WHAT WILL YOU DO?” As one sign puts it, “There Is No Planet B” for any of us.
A compact but cogent tribute to a single voice for change that now leads a rising chorus. (source notes) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6778-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Beach Lane/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2019
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A fine choice that showcases a strong woman inspired to succeed.
If a man can do it, a woman can, too!
In 1909, Alice Ramsey, an early—and uniquely female—adopter of the automobile, was asked by a carmaker to drive from New York to California in order to show that his cars “were so well built and easy to operate that even a lady could drive one safely.” Dedicated and excited, she and three friends set off on a tumultuous road trip of nearly 4,000 miles (many of them unpaved) in a vehicle of the time that lacked most of the conveniences and many of the safety measures we are familiar with today and became the first woman to drive across the country. Full of relevant detail and steeped in mild suspense, this tale provides accessible historical context in terms of women’s rights and roles as well as information about the development of the automobile in the endnotes. While driving cross country to advertise for a manufacturer may not qualify as the most important achievement in women’s history, this kid-friendly selection shows the power of resilience and determination, presents an interest and accomplishment that runs counter to gender stereotypes, and will draw in those interested in cars, history, and/or women’s rights with its straightforward yet energetic text and stylized illustrations.
A fine choice that showcases a strong woman inspired to succeed. (author’s note, bibliography, map) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-250-29702-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
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