Beautiful, informative, essential.
An inspiring biography of Nelson Mandela, who made ending South African apartheid his life’s work.
Accompanied by Palmer’s rich, full-color acrylic paintings, the substantial text explores Mandela’s life: his youth in a Xhosa village, his time at university, his early political activism and imprisonment, and his rise to the South African presidency. McDivitt offers enough apartheid history to help young readers understand the systematic nature of racism, implemented through restrictive policies, and how it negatively impacted every aspect of life for Black South Africans. Palmer’s illustrator’s note explains that although the images could have conveyed much more negativity, given the violence of apartheid, he wanted to illustrate the hope that Mandela had for his homeland—a recurring theme in the text—and therefore created bright, colorful, and uplifting artwork throughout. The double-page spread of a tearful Mandela, still imprisoned, holding his new granddaughter is especially moving. McDivitt’s author’s note explains that her Afrikaner family, who relocated to the U.S. in 1962, the year of Mandela’s imprisonment, felt such shame about their background that they rarely discussed apartheid: “I learned that educating myself about racism is a lifelong process”—wise words for the contemporary United States, where a reckoning around systemic racism and White supremacy is well underway. Ten pages of age-appropriate backmatter make this an excellent resource for learning about Mandela and apartheid.
Beautiful, informative, essential. (Picture book/biography. 8-12)Pub Date: March 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5502-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Essential.
A measured corrective to pervasive myths about what is often referred to as the “first Thanksgiving.”
Contextualizing them within a Native perspective, Newell (Passamaquoddy) touches on the all-too-familiar elements of the U.S. holiday of Thanksgiving and its origins and the history of English colonization in the territory now known as New England. In addition to the voyage and landfall of the Mayflower, readers learn about the Doctrine of Discovery that arrogated the lands of non-Christian peoples to European settlers; earlier encounters between the Indigenous peoples of the region and Europeans; and the Great Dying of 1616-1619, which emptied the village of Patuxet by 1620. Short, two- to six-page chapters alternate between the story of the English settlers and exploring the complex political makeup of the region and the culture, agriculture, and technology of the Wampanoag—all before covering the evolution of the holiday. Refreshingly, the lens Newell offers is a Native one, describing how the Wampanoag and other Native peoples received the English rather than the other way around. Key words ranging from estuary to discover are printed in boldface in the narrative and defined in a closing glossary. Nelson (a member of the Leech Lake Band of Minnesota Chippewa) contributes soft line-and-color illustrations of the proceedings. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Essential. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-72637-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Scholastic Nonfiction
Review Posted Online: Oct. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2021
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