A stirring expression of the triumph of the human spirit.
A champion athlete soared in more ways than one.
When Hungarian gymnast Ágnes Keleti twirled through the air, she forgot about war and the oppression she and other Jewish people faced after the Nazis came to power. But she couldn’t forget forever: Her coach explained that Jews were now barred from the gym. A fellow Jewish athlete told her about his secret training place—a local school gym—and invited Ágnes to join him. Practicing clandestinely worked temporarily, until the Nazis overtook Budapest. A determined Ágnes refused to wear the yellow star required of all Jewish people and urged her family to go into hiding. Her mother and sister left almost immediately; her father refused to abandon his factory. Ágnes, too famous to remain in Budapest, departed for a small village with documents purchased from a Christian woman and became a maid for a pro-Nazi family. After the war, Ágnes reunited with her mother and sister but learned her father had perished at Auschwitz. Focused on the future, Ágnes ultimately won the Hungarian National Championship again and triumphed at the 1952 Olympics. Readers will appreciate this inspiring tale that addresses the anguish Ágnes endured while emphasizing her indomitable spirit; young people will eagerly cheer her on. The energetic, stylized illustrations depicting Ágnes’ gymnastics routines serve as an effective metaphor for her endurance in the face of oppression. Period details are depicted well.
A stirring expression of the triumph of the human spirit. (author’s note with a photo of Ágnes at age 95) (Picture-book biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9798765619773
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kar-Ben
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
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