A rousing biography that examines its subject’s motivations to serve others.
An inspirational look at a young girl’s path to activism.
The third book in the You Are a Star series features Malala Yousafzai, the well-known activist for girls’ education. Using a first-person narrative, the book highlights aspects of her life in her hometown of Mingora, in the Swat Valley region of Pakistan. Malala’s fondness for books and learning and the spirit of inquiry encouraged by her parents all grow into a passionate belief for the right to education, equality, and freedom for all. When the Taliban take over her town with their strict diktats about girls not going to school, Malala opposes their ideas through her writings and media interviews. While her budding activism grew, so did the threats from the Taliban, until one day she and her friends were violently attacked. As the world rallied around the brave young girl, Malala strengthened her resolve to fight for girls’ education “everywhere children [need] help.” Using brightly illustrated comic-style panels that depict her home life and relationships with her family and friends, the book is a straightforward account of Malala’s budding activism and commendable achievements. Though none of the information feels new in the crowded landscape of books on Malala, it does showcase her determination and steadfastness in the face of immense odds.
A rousing biography that examines its subject’s motivations to serve others. (author’s note, notes about Malala, timeline, glossary, resources) (Picture-book biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781338895094
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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