Jean Fritz tells us in a preface that this memoir of her childhood years in China is true to real events and feelings, though fictionalized in the sense that exact conversations are invented and details from a longer period telescoped into the two years from October, 1925, when she was ten, to September, 1927, when she and her parents were finally settled at her grandparents' Pennsylvania farm. The poverty of the coolies, her nursemaid's bound feet, and other background details are woven into the more personal story of Jean, a missionary's child, who counts the days until she'll see her American home, repeating to herself Sir Walter Scott's famous "Breathes there the man. . . ." She tells of visits with other American children in China; of a fearful trip when the family was carried by coolies up a steep, slippery mountain path to the town where they would summer, and where Jean's sister would be born and die; and then of the growing disruption and danger as the revolution came nearer. Conversion to communism caused the family's cook to turn rude and cut his long fingernails, and Jean feared for a while that he would poison their food. Then there was the "narrow squeak" (her father's term) when the family, returning home from the summer, was surrounded by hostile coolies with knives; they were saved by local coolies whom Jean's father had befriended. In Pennsylvania at last, Jean worries about whether she 11 pass at school for a "regular" American; but her aunt helps her get a dress and a hair bob, and despite a painful run-in with the hated Palmer method of handwriting, she acquires a boyfriend the first day and comes home euphoric. Fritz's telling never rises above the pedestrian; she does less justice to her own story than to those of the American history figures she has made real and human for children. Nevertheless the combination of author interest and unusual background should assure an interested readership.
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 1982
ISBN: 0399209336
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1982
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.”
Bewitched by the rhythms of jazz all around her in Depression-era Kansas City, little Melba Doretta Liston longs to make music in this fictional account of a little-known jazz great.
Picking up the trombone at 7, the little girl teaches herself to play with the support of her Grandpa John and Momma Lucille, performing on the radio at 8 and touring as a pro at just 17. Both text and illustrations make it clear that it’s not all easy for Melba; “The Best Service for WHITES ONLY” reads a sign in a hotel window as the narrative describes a bigotry-plagued tour in the South with Billie Holiday. But joy carries the day, and the story ends on a high note, with Melba “dazzling audiences and making headlines” around the world. Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. Morrison’s sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba’s story; she puts her entire body into her playing, the exaggerated arch of her back and thrust of her shoulders mirroring the curves of her instrument. In one thrilling spread, the evening gown–clad instrumentalist stands over the male musicians, her slide crossing the gutter while the back bow disappears off the page to the left. An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography.
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60060-898-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A resplendent masterpiece.
Based on her experience of leaving Mexico for the United States, Morales’ latest offers an immigrant’s tale steeped in hope, dreams, and love.
This story begins with a union between mother and son, with arms outstretched in the midst of a new beginning. Soon after, mother and son step on a bridge, expansive “like the universe,” to cross to the other side, to become immigrants. An ethereal city appears, enfolded in fog. The brown-skinned woman and her child walk through this strange new land, unwilling to speak, unaccustomed to “words unlike those of our ancestors.” But soon their journey takes them to the most marvelous of places: the library. In a series of stunning double-page spreads, Morales fully captures the sheer bliss of discovery as their imaginations take flight. The vibrant, surreal mixed-media artwork, including Mexican fabric, metal sheets, “the comal where I grill my quesadillas,” childhood drawings, and leaves and plants, represents a spectacular culmination of the author’s work thus far. Presented in both English and Spanish editions (the latter in Teresa Mlawer’s translation), equal in evocative language, the text moves with purpose. No word is unnecessary, each a deliberate steppingstone onto the next. Details in the art provide cultural markers specific to the U.S., but the story ultimately belongs to one immigrant mother and her son. Thanks to books and stories (some of her favorites are appended), the pair find their voices as “soñadores of the world.”
A resplendent masterpiece. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4055-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
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