Celebrates girls’ resilience, courage, and initiative.
In this translated import from France, profiles of five fictional girls describe struggles with societal norms and introduce critical gender-related issues.
In a village in Nepal, menstrual taboos exile Kaneila to a distant, doorless hut during her period, leaving her vulnerable to wild animals and sexual assault and banning her from attending school. Even as she questions these superstitions, a biology student from a village that’s discarded this custom comes to educate her class about female physiology, inspiring Kaneila to want to empower other girls. Dussutour then explains how “periods are political,” describing initiatives and challenges worldwide. In France, Jade is fat-shamed by her mother, doctor, classmates, and strangers. She’s humiliated and confused by media messages, but support from her sister and a friend who’s experienced racism help her focus on her body’s strength and share her feelings with her family. The author covers body positivity, the negative toll of diet culture, the prevalence of eating disorders, and related topics. Other chapters talk about Afghanistan (Mahnoosh dresses as a boy so she can have freedom of movement), Kenya (Makena flees female genital mutilation to live in a matriarchal community with her sister), and Mexico (Luisa copes with sexual harassment in public and at school, and her sister becomes a victim of domestic violence). Saturated, vibrantly colored illustrations highlight the girls and symbolic items in their lives. The book celebrates those who are working for change from within their cultures.
Celebrates girls’ resilience, courage, and initiative. (resources, index) (Nonfiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781459838987
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Congolese-American Sophie makes a harrowing trek through a war-torn jungle to protect a young bonobo.
On her way to spend the summer at the bonobo sanctuary her mother runs, 14-year-old Sophie rescues a sickly baby bonobo from a trafficker. Though her Congolese mother is not pleased Sophie paid for the ape, she is proud that Sophie works to bond with Otto, the baby. A week before Sophie's to return home to her father in Miami, her mother must take advantage
of a charter flight to relocate some apes, and she leaves Sophie with Otto and the sanctuary workers. War breaks out, and after missing a U.N. flight out, Sophie must hide herself and Otto from violent militants and starving villagers. Unable to take Otto out of the country, she decides finding her mother hundreds of miles to the north is her only choice. Schrefer jumps from his usual teen suspense to craft this well-researched tale of jungle survival set during a fictional conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Realistic characters (ape and human) deal with disturbing situations described in graphic, but never gratuitous detail. The lessons Sophie learns about her childhood home, love and what it means to be endangered will resonate with readers.
Even if some hairbreadth escapes test credulity, this is a great next read for fans of our nearest ape cousins or survival adventure. (map, author's note, author Q&A) (Adventure. 12-16)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-16576-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Unhappy teens in need of a lecture on thinking positively and being more in touch with one’s emotions need look no further.
Mangan presents in as many chapters a 20-point strategy that ranges from “Have a Positive Attitude” and “Cut Your Problems Into Pieces” to “Practice Being Patient” and “Appreciate the Value of Your Hard Work.” She blends private exercises like visualizing forgiveness with comments on selective attention, “problematic procrastination” and other bad habits, reframing situations to put them in different lights, “changing shoes” to understand others better and subjecting feelings to rational analysis. Though the author has a graduate degree and years of practice in clinical psychology, she offers generalities and generic situations rather than specific cases from her experience, and the book is devoid of references to further resources or even an index. Superficial advice (“If you are unsafe or are around kids that you know are bullies, just walk away”) combines with techniques that are unlikely to interest readers (“Make a song verse out of your list of helpful thoughts”). The author also makes questionable claims about the mind-body connection (“When you smile, your body sends a signal to your brain that you are happy”) and fails to make a case for regarding side forays into food habits and environmental concerns as relevant to her topic. Obvious issues and common-sense advice, unpersuasively presented. (Self-help. 12-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-4338-1040-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Magination/American Psychological Association
Review Posted Online: Aug. 9, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2011
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