Soaring tribute to a voice less well known that it should be, at least outside Latin America.
An introduction to an Argentinian singer and social activist known as “the voice of the voiceless.”
Beginning with the future cantora’s birth in a region where “the valleys are vibrant and the high peaks of the mountains reach the sky,” Fernández Nitsche writes lyrically of how Mercedes Sosa first gained attention for her voice in a radio competition and went on to sing folk songs, accompanying herself on a bombo (drum), in support of social causes, becoming “a bridge between cultures, languages, and generations.” Sosa endured arrest (in the middle of a concert!) and years of exile when the military dictatorship that came to power in the late 1970s found her protest songs threatening. The author relegates mention of the subject’s European and Indigenous parentage, as well as most other biographical details, to an appended timeline in order to focus on her spirit and her legacy: “Mercedes’s voice still beats strongly today, just like her bombo did.” And whether standing on stage, behind bars, or amid banner-wielding marchers in the illustrations, swaddled in heavy woven robes, her solid figure has a suitably iconic look. Warm swirls of color throughout make clear the power of her voice. Sosa died in 2009, but a playlist in the backmatter will help younger audiences unfamiliar with her name understand what they’ve been missing. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Soaring tribute to a voice less well known that it should be, at least outside Latin America. (author’s note, Spanish glossary, select sources) (Picture-book biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2023
ISBN: 9780593645970
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
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