History that tries way too hard to be hip.
Short biographies of six ancient women rulers for a generation of readers accustomed to plucky heroines.
Thanks to the bridging colloquialisms among marginalized populations and the global vector that is the internet-driven media culture, the current language is enriched with a vocabulary of surviving—if not at times vanquishing—the interlocking systems of oppression, from “fierce” to “slay” and “not on my watch” to “arm up and kick butt.” Author Shecter employs the very same language here. Hatshepsut the pharaoh queen—whose pivotal reign beginning at age 15 or 16 was nearly buried by the misogyny of her own stepson, Thutmose III, and centuries of neglect—starts off the chronology of exploits. It goes on to cover the Persian-allied Greek queen Artemisia I’s military derring-do; the Nubian (now Sudan) queen Amanirenas’ martial and diplomatic prowess; and the Trung sisters’ joint rule of Vietnam, during which they initially drive out Han Dynasty–era China with an 80,000-person army. Britain’s Boudicca and Palmyra’s Zenobia round out the collection. These are all stories worth knowing. Unfortunately, the author bogs them down with the aforementioned slang in a seeming desire to appeal to her middle-grade readers: “So how did [Amanirenas] succeed in her mammoth smackdown?” Mayer’s busy, Greek vase–inspired illustrations don’t add to the stories nearly as much as the occasional photographs pertaining to each woman’s narrative.
History that tries way too hard to be hip. (source notes, bibliography, index) (Collective biography. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-62979-679-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
A fine introduction to a musical icon.
Silvey examines the life of Pete Seeger, whose folk music and social activism brought both worldwide acclaim and a decade of government persecution.
Born into a privileged family in 1919, Pete attended boarding schools from third grade, isolated from his divorced parents and family. He read voraciously and incubated his interests in the outdoors, journalism, art, and music; a high school teacher introduced him to the banjo. After dropping out of Harvard, Seeger pursued a winding path that included performing children’s concerts and cataloging folk music at the Library of Congress. The straightforward narrative chronicles Pete’s musical arc—from hardscrabble touring with Woody Guthrie and the Almanac Singers to the phenomenal success of the Weavers, who introduced Americans to folk and world music. Silvey links Seeger’s music with his commitment to social causes, from workers’ rights and civil rights to the antiwar and environmental movements. She skillfully illuminates Seeger’s 10-year ordeal during the tenure of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Surveilled, blacklisted, subpoenaed, arrested, tried, and convicted, the former Communist Party member was vindicated on appeal in 1962. Silvey’s afterword frankly acknowledges Seeger as a personal hero, avowing that her biographer’s neutrality was trumped by her research into Seeger’s unjust treatment by the FBI and HUAC.
A fine introduction to a musical icon. (photographs, quotation source notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-547-33012-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016
An informationally sound profile but a lackluster narrative.
A fact-filled profile of Edwin and John Wilkes Booth.
The sons of a renowned Shakespearean actor, each enjoyed successful theatrical careers, though Edwin was more famous and admired as an actor. They were divided in their sympathies in the Civil War. John Wilkes spied and smuggled in his zealous support of the Confederacy, fantasizing about a plot to kidnap Lincoln before masterminding the assassination. Langston-George notes that the lives of the Lincolns and the Booths intersected multiple times. Robert Todd Lincoln and John Wilkes pursued the same woman, Lucy Lambert Hale, and Edwin Booth saved the life of President Lincoln’s eldest son when he pulled him off the tracks before an oncoming train. President Lincoln had also seen John Wilkes perform at Ford’s Theater. This story of the Booth brothers is sufficiently factual but lacks depth or nuance. Langston-George frequently uses quotes; sources are identified in the endnotes. What drove John Wilkes to embrace the Confederacy and white supremacy and to plot Lincoln’s assassination is not discussed. The emotional and psychological toll his crime took on Edwin is unexplored. A much more engaging, astute, and insightful profile of the Booth brothers can be found in James Cross Giblin’s Good Brother, Bad Bother (2005).
An informationally sound profile but a lackluster narrative. (afterword, photos, timeline, glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5157-7339-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 26, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2017
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