A compelling introduction to an extraordinary leader.
Sarah Winnemucca’s fearless determination along with her talent for languages and her commitment to education for her people made her a striking spokesperson, lecturer and educator.
Ray’s biography encompasses Winnemucca’s life from childhood through her work with the Peabody School she founded in 1885 in Lovelock, Nev. The heartbreak and challenges Sarah’s Paiute people experienced as gold and silver mining brought English-speaking settlers in droves to the Great Basin of Utah, Nevada and California form the core of the narrative. A picture-book trim size allows for substantial blocks of text to accompany Ray’s luminous full-page paintings, each focusing on a chapter of Winnemucca’s life. Quotations from Winnemucca’s autobiography as well as from other contemporary writings augment the account. Extensive backmatter offers more information about Winnemucca’s life (Ray explains that the term “princess” was conferred by white journalists) and her people, extending the range for this work well into middle school. The lack of page numbers or index is a slight problem for navigating back through the work, but the clarity of the narrative will make this an excellent read-aloud for older listeners.
A compelling introduction to an extraordinary leader. (author’s note, map, timeline, bibliography) (Biography. 9-13)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-374-39897-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: March 27, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism.
Recounting his childhood experiences in sixth grade, Ogle’s memoir chronicles the punishing consequences of poverty and violence on himself and his family.
The start of middle school brings about unwanted changes in young Rex’s life. His old friendships devolve as his school friends join the football team and slowly edge him out. His new English teacher discriminates against him due to his dark skin (Rex is biracial, with a white absentee dad and a Mexican mom) and secondhand clothes, both too large and too small. Seemingly worse, his mom enrolls him in the school’s free-lunch program, much to his embarrassment. “Now everyone knows I’m nothing but trailer trash.” His painful home life proffers little sanctuary thanks to his mom, who swings from occasional caregiver to violent tyrant at the slightest provocation, and his white stepdad, an abusive racist whose aggression outrivals that of Rex’s mom. Balancing the persistent flashes of brutality, Ogle magnificently includes sprouts of hope, whether it’s the beginnings of a friendship with a “weird” schoolmate, joyful moments with his younger brother, or lessons of perseverance from Abuela. These slivers of relative levity counteract the toxic relationship between young Rex, a boy prone to heated outbursts and suppressed feelings, and his mother, a fully three-dimensional character who’s viciously thrashing against the burden of poverty. It’s a fine balance carried by the author’s outstanding, gracious writing and a clear eye for the penetrating truth.
A mighty portrait of poverty amid cruelty and optimism. (author’s note, author Q&A, discussion guide, writing guide, resources) (Memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-324-00360-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
An inventive introduction to a fascinating historical figure.
Another collaborative effort by the team that created The Poet King of Tezcoco: A Great Leader of Ancient Mexico (2007) chronicles the life of a controversial figure in pre-colonial Mesoamerica.
The indigenous woman who would serve as Hernán Cortés’ interpreter and companion was born in the early 1500s as Malinali and later christened Marina. She is now called La Malinche. Besides serving as translator to the Spaniard, she also gave him advice on native customs, religious beliefs and the ways of the Aztec. While Marina’s decision to help the Spanish in their often brutal quest for supremacy has led to many negative associations, others see her as the mother of all Mexicans, as she and Cortés had the first recorded mestizo. Although many of the details surrounding the specifics of Marina’s life were unrecorded, Serrano strengthens the narrative with quotations by her contemporaries and provides a balanced look at the life of a complicated, oft-maligned woman. Headers provide structure as events sometimes shift from the specific to the very broad, and some important facts are glossed over or relegated to the timeline. Reminiscent of pre-colonial documents, the illustrations convey both Marina’s adulation of Cortés and the violence of the Spanish conquest, complete with severed limbs, decapitations and more.
An inventive introduction to a fascinating historical figure. (map, chronology, glossary, sources and further reading) (Nonfiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-55498-111-3
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Groundwood
Review Posted Online: Sept. 11, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
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