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GIRL MOGUL

DREAM IT. DO IT. CHANGE THE WORLD

An empowering guide to hustling before you’re out of high school.

A guide for teens for success in school and beyond.

Pham (You Are a Mogul, 2018, etc.), the founder of Mogul, an online platform built to connect women across the world, provides advice for teen girls to thrive in both work and their personal lives. Readers will find tips and advice on how to receive mentorship, make tough decisions, and forge healthy friendships. Throughout, Pham relates anecdotes from her own life to illustrate how her advice can be put into practice before ever setting foot in the working world. Each chapter also features a “mogul mentor,” who offers further advice or examples of how she has overcome obstacles in her own life. Sidebars urging simple and immediate action and colorful, attractive pages make this an easy, enjoyable read while still presenting information about many different situations. Themes of feminism and diversity are constant: Young women are encouraged to find their voices and speak up; women of varying abilities, ethnicities, and nationalities are featured; and a diverse audience is assumed. Pham’s parents are Vietnamese and Chinese, and she is an immigrant from France. Readers may be intimidated by Pham’s apparently constant drive, but portions of chapters do advocate for balance. While some advice veers far into the realm of business, overall readers are empowered to strive and succeed no matter their passion.

An empowering guide to hustling before you’re out of high school. (Nonfiction. 12-21)

Pub Date: April 2, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-250-29896-6

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Imprint

Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2019

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THE NEW QUEER CONSCIENCE

From the Pocket Change Collective series

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

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TAKING ON THE PLASTICS CRISIS

From the Pocket Change Collective series

Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.

Teen environmental activist and founder of the nonprofit Hannah4Change, Testa shares her story and the science around plastic pollution in her fight to save our planet.

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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