Teens in the thick of creating identities themselves will find this riveting.
In 10 vignettes, Barton profiles successful imposters, both men and women.
Some assumed false identities for criminal purposes, others for self-preservation. Possibly the most famous of the 10 is Frank Abagnale, a master con-artist whose exploits were immortalized in the Steven Spielberg film Catch Me if You Can. Asa Earl Carter, a longtime Ku Klux Klan member, adopted the new first name of Forrest and passed himself off as a Cherokee to publish a fake memoir, The Education of Little Tree, a bestseller that became a favorite of middle- and high-school teachers. On the other side of the spectrum is Solomon Perel, a Polish Jew whose Aryan features enabled him to pass as an ethnic German, enroll in the Hitler Youth and survive the Holocaust. Ellen Craft's light-skinned features enabled her to pass as white. With her husband, William, posing as her slave, they audaciously boarded a train in Charleston, S.C., and journeyed to freedom in Philadelphia. Barton's use of the second-person point of view gives these stories dramatic tension and a sense of immediacy. Hoppe's graphic panels enhance this effect. The brevity of these profiles will appeal to reluctant readers and work well for reading aloud, but a little more back story for some characters might have clarified the motives for their masquerades.
Teens in the thick of creating identities themselves will find this riveting. (Nonfiction. 12 & up)Pub Date: April 14, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3310-7
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
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
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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