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WE SHALL NOT BE DENIED

A TIMELINE OF VOTING RIGHTS AND SUPPRESSION IN AMERICA

Sketchy but useful as a springboard for further research.

A timeline of high spots and low in the continuing struggle to expand voting rights in the United States.

Designed more to give students a basic historical frame for this ever-contentious issue than to deepen their understanding of its controversies and nuances, this chronological overview begins with the “three-fifths clause” in Article 1 of the 1787 Constitution. The authors then proceed to identify significant legislation and legal cases up to the 2020 settlement in Brakebill v. Jaeger, which protected voting rights for Native Americans living on reservations. Period images and brief commentary accompanying the timeline that runs throughout the pages create some context. The authors allude to unspecified “unfair treatment” or continuing “barriers” for marginalized groups and specific changes for better or worse on limiting who may vote. The authors rarely pause to examine the racist, sexist, or political mores and motives behind those stubbornly pervasive limits—largely leaving it to readers to research and draw their own conclusions about, for instance, the motives behind the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act or the 1901 “moral turpitude” tests for voter registration in Alabama. And to remind their audience of future voters that there are no age limits on activism, the authors switch tracks at the end with a nod to the young eco-litigators behind the still-pending Juliana v. United States lawsuit before closing with suggested activities and debate questions.

Sketchy but useful as a springboard for further research. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 9-11)

Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024

ISBN: 9798765629185

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Lerner

Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024

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IN SEARCH OF SASQUATCH

AN EXERCISE IN ZOOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)

A true believer presents the evidence.

Expanding on a partial chapter in her outstanding Tales of the Cryptids (2006), Halls makes her case by tallying Native American legends, the many footprints and reported sightings (a map of the latter claims hundreds from every state except Hawaii), the famous Patterson-Gimlin film, the recorded “Sierra Sounds” and other circumstantial evidence. She also interviews scientists and Sasquatch hunters, includes an account of early searches for Tibet’s Yeti, adds the transcript of a panicky 911 call and even covers some proven hoaxes. She maintains a believer's voice, gently challenging refuseniks: "Serious Sasquatch hunters are as skeptical as unbelievers. They are not out to collect great stories. They are out to put together facts. Proof. The difference is, they are willing to keep an open mind." Illustrated with photos, drawings and archival images aplenty and closing with generous lists of print, Web and video resources this is about as convincing as it gets—considering the continuing absence of any incontrovertible physical proof—and should give young cryptid hunters a good hairy leg up on investigations of their own.

All those hundreds of witnesses and researchers can’t be wrong, can they? (Nonfiction. 9-11)

Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2011

ISBN: 978-0-547-25761-7

Page Count: 64

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011

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WOMEN EXPLORERS

PERILS, PISTOLS, AND PETTICOATS

Should attract aspiring adventurers.

After showcasing risk-taking gals in Women Daredevils (2007), Cummins introduces 10 “dauntless” women born before 1900 whose little-known deeds “contribut[ed] to science, geography, history, and cultural understanding” at a time when “proper ladies simply did not go gallivanting around the world to explore new territories.”

Starting with Louise Boyd, who traded stylish dresses for boots and breeches to explore the Arctic, and closing with Daisy Bates, who studied Australian Aborigines for 35 years, Cummins presents breezy three-to-four–page biographies of her unconventional females. The variety of their endeavors astound. Nellie Cashman “rushed” for gold in British Columbia, the Klondike and Alaska; botanist Ynes Mexia collected thousands of plants in the wilderness of Mexico, the United States and the Amazon; Lucy Cheesman sojourned with cannibals while studying insects in the South Pacific. Suffragist Annie Peck scaled Europe and South America’s highest peaks. Dutch heiress Alexandrine Tinné searched for the Nile’s source and was murdered traversing the Sahara. Delia Akeley became the first woman to cross Africa. Violet Cressy-Marcks made eight trips around the world, and Freya Stark traveled throughout the Middle East. In an engaging, informative style, Cummins highlights fascinating facts about these feisty females “who conquered the unknown.” Dramatic watercolor illustrations memorialize each.

Should attract aspiring adventurers. (author’s note and list of additional female explorers; selected bibliography, websites) (Collective biography. 9-11)

Pub Date: Feb. 16, 2012

ISBN: 978-0-8037-3713-6

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012

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