Informative and compelling; a useful and meaningful resource.
Digestible nonfiction summaries of the childhoods of musicians and performers from the 20th and 21st centuries.
The latest title in the Kid Legends series focuses on big names in the music industry, from those who are more recognizable to young readers today (Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles) to older legends (Ella Fitzgerald, Prince, Yo-Yo Ma). The content is divided into four themed parts: “Dreamers to Pop Superstars,” “Jazz Clubs and Concert Halls,” “Songwriting and Music-Making,” and “Rhythm and Blues and the Motown Sound.” Each section includes four powerhouse performers. The focus is primarily on each person’s childhood, including challenges they faced. Stevenson also covers their adult accomplishments and accolades, advocacy efforts, and experiences of segregation and discrimination. She provides brief, meaningful explanations for elements of the stories that readers may be unfamiliar with; in Joni Mitchell’s profile, she describes polio epidemics and the lack of a vaccine when she was young, information that helps contextualize the singer’s bout with the disease. Humanizing details—Dolly Parton lived in poverty and was bullied at school; Cher struggled with dyslexia—provide readers with reassurance that people's lives, even ones filled with success and celebrity, are complex and storied. The full-color spot-art illustrations throughout break up the text and capture some iconic images.
Informative and compelling; a useful and meaningful resource. (bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781683693918
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Quirk Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing.
In this graphic memoir by sports journalist Shah, a ninth grader pursues his passion in the face of familial expectations pushing him toward a medical career, while also navigating the perils of high school social life.
It’s 1995, and Indian American Amar is desperate to meet the Chicago Bulls—Michael Jordan, in particular—when they stop by his Orlando, Florida, school. A lucky break leads him to his first sports interview, with Phil Jackson, and his tenacity takes him further, leading to multiple conversations with Shaquille O’Neal. But Amar’s luck in journalism doesn’t spill over to his relationship with his crush, blond Kasey Page (“like a mixture of Cameron Diaz, Tinkerbell, and heaven”), or his efforts to remain close with best friends Rohit and Cherian, who start spending more time with other classmates. The work relies on captions as much as plot developments to propel the story. It also follows a broad cast of characters—close and former friends, antagonists, supportive adults, and famous athletes—who appear in multiple storylines. The story accurately depicts the complexities of life as a young teen, though overlapping life challenges pull it in multiple directions, leaving some threads underexplored and hastily wrapped up. Doucet illustrates the characters using loose, disjointed outlines that give the artwork a sense of movement, and the colorful backgrounds use patterns and action lines to indicate a wide array of emotions.
A tighter focus would make this fascinating life story even more intriguing. (author’s note, photographs) (Graphic memoir. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025
ISBN: 9781546110514
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A spirited biography untangles the accretion of myth and story around Pocahontas and makes clear what little is actually known and what fragments of the historical record are available. The text is rich in illustration and in sidebars (on longhouses, colonial diet, weaponry and so on) that illuminate the central narrative. Whether Pocahontas saved John Smith’s life directly or as part of an elaborate ritual might not matter, argues Jones. Pocahontas and her people were certainly responsible for keeping the English settlement of Jamestown from starvation. Relations between English settlers and Native people were uneasy at best, and the author traces these carefully, relating how Pocahontas was later kidnapped by the British and held for ransom. When none was forthcoming, she was converted both to English ways and the Christian religion, marrying the widower John Rolfe and traveling to England, where Pocahontas saw John Smith once again and died at about the age of 21. An excellent stab at myth busting and capturing the nuances of both the figure and her times. (glossary, bibliography, source notes, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4027-6844-6
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Sterling
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
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