Presents many inspiring, resilient role models along with encouraging advice to take away.
Interview- and research-based profiles of prominent contemporary women of different backgrounds who share some life lessons with readers.
Each clearly written brief biography opens with a black-and-white portrait photograph, includes several pages in which the subject’s impressive achievements are recounted, and concludes with a few lines of advice and reassurance by the interviewee to her younger self. Manal al-Sharif, a Saudi woman who defied the law against women drivers, helped bring about a change in legislation, and wrote a bestselling book, writes, “Question the system, never yourself.” Harvard-trained psychoneuroimmunologist Joan Borysenko, who’s done groundbreaking work in integrative medicine, urges her younger self to be kind, grateful, and curious. Journalist and author Boxer pushes back against the societal emphasis on “doing rather than being” and reminds readers to be themselves, “authentically and unapologetically.” The profiles highlight the subjects’ admirable values and display a multitude of visions of success across a variety of fields, including neuroscience, entrepreneurship, climate-change activism, health care, disability rights, racial justice, and wildlife conservation. Some of the subjects are famous—like Temple Grandin, S.E. Hinton, Gabby Giffords, Nancy Pelosi, and Sheryl Sandberg—but most will be new to readers and are worth learning about. There is some diversity in race, nationality, physical ability, and sexual orientation among the subjects.
Presents many inspiring, resilient role models along with encouraging advice to take away. (resources, endnotes, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9781538175514
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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