An uneven ride through Disney history.
A behind-the-scenes look at the Disney brothers’ rise to success.
This graphic biography begins in 1928 Hollywood, when Walt Disney makes the bold decision that his fledgling studio will deal with distributors directly and retain ownership rights to their creations. Together with creative partner Ub Iwerks, Walt creates the character of Mickey Mouse and adds a soundtrack to their cartoon, an innovative feature at the time. While Walt continues to take creative risks and strive for the highest quality, his brother and business partner, Roy, manages the studio finances. As they gain rapid success during the early 1930s, Iwerks quits out of frustration with the lack of credit given to him as a creator. Progressive chapters reveal the brothers’ troubled childhoods on a farm in Missouri with an abusive father. Brief, rapid-fire vignettes relate Walt’s subsequent successes and innovations as well as professional and personal struggles, including protests by unionized workers and the tragic death of his mother. Less flattering aspects of his dealings with the likes of Nazi filmmakers and J. Edgar Hoover are hastily rendered, and readers who lack knowledge of the historical events may be confused. The cartoonlike illustration style feels suitable to the subject matter, however the choppy pacing and inconclusive attempts to probe the Disneys’ psyches may leave curious readers unsatisfied. Some comments, such as one regarding a Depression-era “job picking oranges that pays so bad even a one-eyed Mexican wouldn’t want it,” are presented without context or analysis.
An uneven ride through Disney history. (afterword) (Graphic biography. 12-adult)Pub Date: Dec. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68112-266-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: NBM
Review Posted Online: Nov. 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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 fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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