KID TRAILBLAZERS

Stevenson expands her 2019 roster of Kid Activists with profiles of 20 more advocates for political, social, and environmental causes.

Except for Benazir Bhutto, John Lewis, and Audre Lorde, all of the role models here are alive, and some, like environmental activist Greta Thunberg (born in 2003), #1000BlackGirlBooks founder Marley Dias (born in 2005) and Little Miss Flint Mari Copeny (born in 2007), are still relatively young. With some notable, if humanizing, exceptions—Al Gore’s memories of tossing water balloons off a hotel rooftop, for instance, or Shonda Rhimes’ petrifying first driving lesson—the 16 longer entries and four single-page spotlights are weighted toward childhood experiences that informed or directly led to later concerns and achievements, from Kamala Harris shouting “Fweedom!” from her stroller at a civil rights demonstration to Ai Weiwei watching his father’s library burn on the orders of the Red Guard. All but four subjects are people of color, most are North American, and several, including trans actor Elliot Page, are queer. Steinfeld’s neatly drawn illustrations include many scenes of smiling figures in forthright stances as well as some moments of difficulty and distress; Stevenson mentions instances of violence and bullying often enough to counter any false impressions that activism doesn’t have its risks.

Inspiring examples for younger would-be world-changers.