A rousing biography that examines its subject’s motivations to serve others.
An inspirational look at a young girl’s path to activism.
The third book in the You Are a Star series features Malala Yousafzai, the well-known activist for girls’ education. Using a first-person narrative, the book highlights aspects of her life in her hometown of Mingora, in the Swat Valley region of Pakistan. Malala’s fondness for books and learning and the spirit of inquiry encouraged by her parents all grow into a passionate belief for the right to education, equality, and freedom for all. When the Taliban take over her town with their strict diktats about girls not going to school, Malala opposes their ideas through her writings and media interviews. While her budding activism grew, so did the threats from the Taliban, until one day she and her friends were violently attacked. As the world rallied around the brave young girl, Malala strengthened her resolve to fight for girls’ education “everywhere children [need] help.” Using brightly illustrated comic-style panels that depict her home life and relationships with her family and friends, the book is a straightforward account of Malala’s budding activism and commendable achievements. Though none of the information feels new in the crowded landscape of books on Malala, it does showcase her determination and steadfastness in the face of immense odds.
A rousing biography that examines its subject’s motivations to serve others. (author’s note, notes about Malala, timeline, glossary, resources) (Picture-book biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781338895094
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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 picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston...
A memorable, lyrical reverse-chronological walk through the life of an American icon.
In free verse, Cline-Ransome narrates the life of Harriet Tubman, starting and ending with a train ride Tubman takes as an old woman. “But before wrinkles formed / and her eyes failed,” Tubman could walk tirelessly under a starlit sky. Cline-Ransome then describes the array of roles Tubman played throughout her life, including suffragist, abolitionist, Union spy, and conductor on the Underground Railroad. By framing the story around a literal train ride, the Ransomes juxtapose the privilege of traveling by rail against Harriet’s earlier modes of travel, when she repeatedly ran for her life. Racism still abounds, however, for she rides in a segregated train. While the text introduces readers to the details of Tubman’s life, Ransome’s use of watercolor—such a striking departure from his oil illustrations in many of his other picture books—reveals Tubman’s humanity, determination, drive, and hope. Ransome’s lavishly detailed and expansive double-page spreads situate young readers in each time and place as the text takes them further into the past.
A picture book more than worthy of sharing the shelf with Alan Schroeder and Jerry Pinkney’s Minty (1996) and Carole Boston Weatherford and Kadir Nelson’s Moses (2006). (Picture book/biography. 5-8)Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-8234-2047-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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