The author and illustrator (The Babe & I, 1999, Lou Gehrig: The Luckiest Man, 1997) team up for a third time in this engaging picture book biography of the first woman to swim the English Channel. Gertrude Ederle, born in 1906, learned to swim at age seven when, after falling into a pond and nearly drowning, her father decided that teaching his daughter to swim was essential. It immediately became apparent that Trudy had a great talent—she won her first big race at 15, swam from lower Manhattan to Sandy Hook, New Jersey at 16 (breaking the men’s record along the way), and won three medals at the 1924 Paris Olympics. In 1925, Trudy made her first, albeit unsuccessful, attempt to swim the English Channel and in 1926, on her second attempt, she became the first woman to successfully swim the 20-odd mile body of water. David Adler clearly places this biography in its cultural context, reminding the reader that women and girls were expected to stay at home in this era and were excluded from many activities. Women were deemed the weaker sex and to challenge this notion, especially in the world of sport, took exceptional courage and unusual determination. The stylized illustrations successfully evoke the period of the 1920s. A wide range of beautiful blues, greens, and grays depicts the various forms of water—ocean, pool, pond—and seem thickly applied, deliberately contrasting with the flatness of the human figures. A welcome addition to the growing body of works about female athletes. (Picture book/biography. 59)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-201969-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
A fresh, melodic take on family harmony.
Rock legends, husband-and-wife team, and proud grandparents Benatar and Giraldo present an upbeat ode to families.
A youngster with long blond hair confides conspiratorially, “This might come as a bit of a shock, // but my grandma and grandpa…ROCK!” The silver-haired duo—who resemble the co-authors—jam out in a practice space; Grandpa strums an electric guitar, while Grandma belts out a tune, microphone in hand. (All three are pale-skinned.) Jagged star strokes burst from the amps, reverberating across the page. As the young narrator sings the praises of these hip, artistically minded grandparents, the illustrations depict many varied, diverse families making music. One grandparent strums a ukulele, another prefers the drums, and an especially eclectic granny croons everything from lullabies to Led Zeppelin while cooking. There’s no wrong way to share joy with grandparents. Benatar and Giraldo acknowledge that you don’t have to be a musician to rock (“Anyone can rock! / It’s a state of mind, / like feeling happy or being kind”) as they speak to other passions and occupations (“They can be a plumber, a chef, a pilot, a teacher”). One spread showcases other names for grandparents, both colloquial and cultural, presented without disrupting the text’s rhythm. As expected, this pair lays down a steady beat with a smooth flow. Everett’s energetic art, with musical swooshes and swirls, buoys the text.
A fresh, melodic take on family harmony. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781728298023
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
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