Current, insightful, and savvy.
Two lawyers unpack the “five monster freedoms” supposedly guaranteed to all U.S. citizens, regardless of age.
Following preliminary chapters on how the Constitution and its Bill of Rights were originally thrashed out and on the federal court system, the authors analyze each clause of the First Amendment (in what they describe as “regular-person speak”) by presenting notable legal challenges and case studies in which young people were involved—mostly as plaintiffs or defendants but also as participants in labor strikes or other protests. The authors properly note many areas where the law is unclear and that some victories have been at best partial ones, but along with general encouragement, they argue truly that “by knowing your rights, you are more likely to use them.” And if they neglect to mention that minors can’t actually file lawsuits on their own, their profiles and brief interviews with “First Amendment heroes” highlight the rewards as well as the costs of taking personal or legal action to redress perceived wrongs. And, along with frankly acknowledging the existence of gray areas around parental rights, privacy, and other issues, they offer procedural guidelines for young activists, remind readers that they have a right to record official police actions, and tuck into one of several invitations to “Be the Judge” a cogent suggestion to think about whether responses to the events of Jan. 6, 2021, would have been different if some of the armed rioters had been Black or brown. Illustrations accompanying the eye-straining blue and orange text mix stock photos with views of diverse groups of young protesters by Kendall.
Current, insightful, and savvy. (selected sources) (Nonfiction. 11-18)Pub Date: July 25, 2023
ISBN: 9780762478385
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Running Press Kids
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
Preaching to the choir, perhaps, but an invigorating sermon all the same.
Zinn-ian conspiracy theories, propounded engagingly and energetically by filmmaker and gadfly Stone and Cold War scholar Kuznick (History/American Univ.).
If you’ve read Howard Zinn—or if, like Jeff Lebowski, the Port Huron Statement is still current news for you—then you’ll have at least some of the outlines of this overstuffed argument. Premise 1: Though the United States may pretend to be a nice, cuddly sort of democracy, it’s the font of much trouble in the world. Premise 2: When, post-9/11, neocons began pondering why it wouldn’t be such a bad idea for the U.S. to become an imperial power, they were missing a train (or Great White Fleet) that had pulled out of the station long ago. Premise 3: We like European fascists better than Asian fascists, as evidenced by propaganda posters depicting our erstwhile Japanese foes as rats and vermin. Premise 4: War is a racket that benefits only the ruling class. Premise 5: JFK knew more than he had a chance to make public, and he was gunned down for his troubles. And so forth. Layered in with these richly provocative (and eminently arguable) theses are historical aperçus and data that don’t figure in most standard texts—e.g., the showdown between Bernard Baruch and Harry Truman (“in a colossal failure of presidential leadership”) that could only lead to a protracted struggle between the U.S. and the Soviet Union for post–World War II dominance. Some familiar villains figure in as well, notably the eminently hissable Henry Kissinger and his pal Augusto Pinochet; the luster of others whom we might want to think of as good guys dims (George H.W. Bush in regard to Gorbachev), while other bad guys (George W. Bush in regard to Saddam Hussein) get worse.
Preaching to the choir, perhaps, but an invigorating sermon all the same.Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-4516-1351-3
Page Count: 784
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 23, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
The author of the award-winning Mummies & Their Mysteries (1993) returns to the intriguing subject of mummies. Here she explains how they are formed, how scientists use a variety of sophisticated techniques to learn about peoples and cultures of long ago, and some of the controversies surrounding the study of human remains. As with the previous title, the photographs presented here are striking, from the Inca child who appears on the front cover, to the mummy of Egyptian King Seti I, which appears on the back. Other photographs show some of the first tattoos, details of the Iceman, an Italian child who died of smallpox 400 years ago, the remains of light-haired Caucasian mummies from Xinjiang, China, and the well-preserved bodies of Philip Calvert, governor of Maryland from 1660 to 1661. The science is impressive, as carbon-14 dating, CT scans, DNA profiling, and X-rays are used to solve ancient mysteries. What were the people like? What did they eat? When did they die? What caused their death? What were the diseases they suffered? The author also discusses the controversies as different cultures clash over studying human remains. She mentions the Native American Graves Protection and Reparation Act which gives Native Americans control over native remains buried on government land or held in collections owned or funded by the government, and discusses former Egyptian President Anwar Sadat’s, efforts to house Egyptian mummies in a more dignified way. Though Wilcox discusses respect for the dead, she nonetheless pictures the controversial “Human Body Art” of German artist Gunther von Hagens, and “Sylvester,” a mummy used to greet customers in a shop in Seattle. Also pictured are the remains of an outlaw put on display for 65 years as a moneymaking exhibit for a funeral parlor. The author concludes with a glossary, extensive bibliography including Web sites, and a detailed index. Intriguing science, dramatically presented. (Nonfiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2000
ISBN: 1-57505-428-0
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Carolrhoda
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
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