“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” It’s the most famous line in our most famous political document, neatly expressing what our country stands for. The Declaration of Independence has been called “the nation’s birth certificate” and, as our manifesto of liberty, has warranted many fine studies; this is another. Fifty-six short biographies tell the stories behind the document. Each biography starts with a lively lead sure to lure readers into each story. It’s a volume fun to browse, encouraging dipping in at will and looking for interesting anecdotes. Who was the youngest signer? The oldest? Who signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution? Which signer had a niece more famous than he? Which signer do some historians consider the first president of the United States? The choice of font and the scratchboard illustrations lend a feeling of authenticity, as if the text is straight from a colonial newspaper. The volume is nicely organized, with an introduction providing the historical context for the biographies that follow and the afterword tracing the role of the document in subsequent American history. Fradin (Who Was Ben Franklin?, 2002, etc.) reminds readers of two misconceptions about the Declaration: July 2, 1776, was the day independence was voted on and should be the day we celebrate; July 4th was simply the day the document was adopted. Also, contrary to what most Americans think, the document was not signed by most members until later in August, not in a ceremony on July 4th. The volume, quite similar to Fink’s out-of-print The Fifty-Six Who Signed, will be a great resource for students doing research, though the bibliography only contains works for adult readers and not many recent works. This will be a fine match with Freedman’s Give Me Liberty! (2000) (maps, illustrator’s note, index) (Nonfiction. 10+ )
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-8027-8849-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Walker
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
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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