Rosen makes the life and work of Shakespeare vibrant and exciting in this perfectly splendid biography. He opens with Shakespeare and his cohorts pulling down a wooden theatre under cover of night, to rebuild it as the Globe on the other side of London Bridge. He continues by describing in clear contemporary language some famous plots from the plays, spiced with quotes. He gives enough history so readers can understand that Shakespeare lived in tumultuous times, and that such was reflected in what he wrote. For Shakespeare’s life, Rosen sticks strictly to what is known, and does a beautiful job of tying those few facts into English life in the 16th century, to make a brief but coherent whole. A Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, The Tempest, and Macbeth are treated at some length, and Rosen is very good at offering just the right hook to lure young readers in. His analysis of Juliet’s screaming argument with her parents, who want her to marry Paris when she has already secretly wed Romeo, will find readers nodding in abject recognition. He urges his audience to rent a video or see a performance, reminding them that Shakespeare wrote scripts, not books. But it’s the format that makes this stand out from the usual treatment of these times; large type on oversized pages, quotes in bold, and lots of white space invite younger readers to explore this fascinating universe. Ingpen’s exquisitely detailed watercolors range from full two-page spreads to marginalia; most are in full, burnished color but some are done in grisaille very effectively. Beautiful and engaging. (timeline, bibliography) (Biography. 10+)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-1568-4
Page Count: 104
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2001
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
A winning romance featuring wonderful worldbuilding in both the realistic and magical realms.
A passion for Dungeons & Dragons both brings together and tears apart two love-struck Ohio teens.
After a disastrous debacle with her former best friend and their Dungeons & Dragons group, 16-year-old Quinn finally has a chance to start over in a new town close to her beloved grandmother. On her first day of school, she meets Kashvi, who invites Quinn to join her D&D group’s latest livestreamed campaign. Quinn falls in easily with Kashvi and her friends, including Dungeon Master Sloane (who uses they/them pronouns), Kashvi’s twin brother, Sanjiv, and classmate Logan, whom Quinn instantly falls for. The only problem? The group has a hard and fast policy against its members dating each other. Making matters more complicated, Quinn’s grandmother has decided that Quinn and Logan are meant to be—and she’ll do whatever it takes to bring them together. As the D&D campaign ramps up, Quinn is faced with a conundrum: Can she suppress her feelings for Logan while battling imaginary dragons and real-life trolls by his side? Throughout, Boyce successfully melds humor with heartfelt moments, especially evidenced in the scenes involving Quinn’s grandmother. The portrayal of the D&D group’s dynamics is nuanced and realistic, peppered with sharp dialogue and snappy quips. Quinn and Logan’s relationship is a torturous slow burn with a payoff that’s worth the wait. Most major characters are coded white; Kashvi and Sanjiv are South Asian.
A winning romance featuring wonderful worldbuilding in both the realistic and magical realms. (Romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Dec. 31, 2024
ISBN: 9780593899205
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Delacorte Romance
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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