The story of Aunt Clara Brown deserves to be better known. As Patricia McKissack writes in the introduction, Aunt Clara Brown was “a classic American hero.” Born a slave, probably in 1800 in Virginia, Clara was sold with her mother to a farmer named Ambrose Smith. In 1809, the Smith family moved west to Kentucky by covered wagon over the Wilderness Road. Eventually, Clara purchased her freedom, moved to St. Louis, and later to Colorado in the Colorado Gold Rush of 1849. Always she searched for her daughter, Eliza Jane, sold on the auction block, stolen from her life. When the Civil War ended, Clara returned to the South to look for her daughter and, instead, found a new “family” of dispossessed former slaves and settled them in Colorado. At the end of her life, Clara was reunited with Eliza Jane, after 46 years and 5,000 miles of traveling and searching, “a million tears, a lifetime of faith that one day, despite all odds, this very moment would come to pass.” This entry in the newly reinvigorated Landmark series is lively, well written, and full of historical detail, an impassioned account of racism faced and transcended. Each chapter is followed by information on such historical events such as the Dred Scott Case, the Underground Railroad, the Missouri Compromise, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Readers will come to care about Clara Brown and learn much about the times in which she lived. A fine work for biography fans and a necessity for American history collections. (introduction, author’s note, notes on research, bibliography, acknowledgments, photo credits, index) (Nonfiction. 9+)
Pub Date: Dec. 17, 2002
ISBN: 0-375-81092-7
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 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
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