“Benjamin Franklin was a singular man with a keen mind that ‘soared above the clouds.’ ” Franklin was the only person to sign the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Treaty of Alliance with France, and the Treaty of Paris to end the revolutionary war. He was a scientist, an inventor, a statesman, and a writer. Proud of his working-class roots, Franklin humbly referred to himself as a printer, hence the title Adler (Andy Russell, Not Wanted by the Police, p. 1352, etc.) has chosen. This attractive work is packed with good information and reproductions of maps, drawings, engravings, paintings, letters, and excerpts from The Pennsylvania Gazette, all diligently attributed to their sources. Adler emphasizes Franklin’s life prior to the revolution, and then does an excellent job of tracing his philosophical shift from believer in the unity of the empire to key player in the movement for independence. It was Franklin who suggested the line “We hold these truths to be self-evident” for the Declaration of Independence. Unfortunately, the author’s writing does not equal the quality of the format and design. While Franklin’s mind soars, the prose drags, reading more like a school report than the lively narrative it might have been. Still, it will be valuable to young report writers and, as a study of a popular subject, should find a wide audience. Extensive source notes are included, though curiously no references for young readers are provided. (chronologies, bibliography, Web sites, illustration credits, index) (Biography. 9+)
Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2001
ISBN: 0-8234-1675-5
Page Count: 126
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2001
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats.
Why should grown-ups get all the historical, scientific, athletic, cinematic, and artistic glory?
Choosing exemplars from both past and present, Mitchell includes but goes well beyond Alexander the Great, Anne Frank, and like usual suspects to introduce a host of lesser-known luminaries. These include Shapur II, who was formally crowned king of Persia before he was born, Indian dancer/professional architect Sheila Sri Prakash, transgender spokesperson Jazz Jennings, inventor Param Jaggi, and an international host of other teen or preteen activists and prodigies. The individual portraits range from one paragraph to several pages in length, and they are interspersed with group tributes to, for instance, the Nazi-resisting “Swingkinder,” the striking New York City newsboys, and the marchers of the Birmingham Children’s Crusade. Mitchell even offers would-be villains a role model in Elagabalus, “boy emperor of Rome,” though she notes that he, at least, came to an awful end: “Then, then! They dumped his remains in the Tiber River, to be nommed by fish for all eternity.” The entries are arranged in no evident order, and though the backmatter includes multiple booklists, a personality quiz, a glossary, and even a quick Braille primer (with Braille jokes to decode), there is no index. Still, for readers whose fires need lighting, there’s motivational kindling on nearly every page.
A breezy, bustling bucketful of courageous acts and eye-popping feats. (finished illustrations not seen) (Collective biography. 10-13)Pub Date: May 10, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-14-751813-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Puffin
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2015
A detailed, absorbing picture of Chinese-American culture in the 50's and 60's, of particular interest to Yep's many...
In a strong debut for the new "In My Own Words" series, the author of The Star Fisher (see below) portrays his own youth.
Brought up in San Francisco, where his parents managed for years to defend a mom-and-pop grocery against an increasingly rough non-Chinese neighborhood, Yep went to Chinatown to attend a Catholic school and to visit his grandmother. Always aware of belonging to several cultures, he is a keen observer who began early to "keep a file of family history" and who tellingly reveals how writing fiction, honestly pursued, can lead to new insights: in putting his own "mean" teacher into one book, he began for the first time to understand her viewpoint. He divides his account topically, rather than chronologically, with chapters on the store, Chinatown, family tradition, being an outsider, etc., concluding with his college years ("Culture Shock") and some later experiences especially related to his writing. Always, Yep is trying to integrate his many "pieces" ("raised in a black neighborhood...too American to fit into Chinatown and too Chinese to fit in elsewhere...the clumsy son of the athletic family..."), until he discovers that writing transforms him "from being a puzzle to a puzzle solver."
A detailed, absorbing picture of Chinese-American culture in the 50's and 60's, of particular interest to Yep's many admirers or would-be writers. (Autobiography. 11-15)Pub Date: May 1, 1991
ISBN: 0688137016
Page Count: 117
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1991
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