A many-voiced chorus of encouragement for business-minded readers.
In condensed interviews, a small army of business owners and corporate executives dish out general reflections and advice for tween capitalists.
A range of small- to medium-sized business founders, corporate or philanthropic foundation executives and management experts, venture capitalists, and even a government official with a business background sound off on topics including significant character traits they see in themselves and look for in their employees, identifying missions and potential markets, leveraging social media, and networking. In deference to self-starters with shorter attention spans, the authors (both high school students) end each entry with pithy lists of “Key Takeaways” pulled from the Q&A profiles. Considering the wide range of backgrounds and experiences represented, the book includes much difference of opinion—in particular, about the value, or even necessity, of going to college—but the interviewees have a general consensus that climate change, social inequities, and sustainability are crucial issues to consider for every product or enterprise. And, if some interviewees lean into jargon, many more set out clear, concise expressions of their approaches, challenges, and goals (the nonfinancial kind: Money is seldom mentioned, even in passing). While nearly all the contributors are based in the U.S., many are immigrants or children of immigrants, and in addition to ethnic diversity, there’s equity in gender balance, including one genderfluid, nonbinary app creator, offering readers a broad range of perspectives on entrepreneurial life.
A many-voiced chorus of encouragement for business-minded readers. (resources) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780593651599
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2024
Ultimately adds little to conversations about race.
A popular YouTube series on race, “Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man,” turns how-to manual and history lesson for young readers.
Acho is a former NFL player and second-generation Nigerian American who cites his upbringing in predominantly White spaces as well as his tenure on largely Black football teams as qualifications for facilitating the titular conversations about anti-Black racism. The broad range of subjects covered here includes implicit bias, cultural appropriation, and systemic racism. Each chapter features brief overviews of American history, personal anecdotes of Acho’s struggles with his own anti-Black biases, and sections titled “Let’s Get Uncomfortable.” The book’s centering of Whiteness and White readers seems to show up, to the detriment of its subject matter, both in Acho’s accounts of his upbringing and his thought processes regarding race. The overall tone unfortunately conveys a sense of expecting little from a younger generation who may have a greater awareness than he did at the same age and who, therefore, may already be uncomfortable with racial injustice itself. The attempt at an avuncular tone disappointingly reads as condescending, revealing that, despite his online success with adults, the author is ill-equipped to be writing for middle-grade readers. Chapters dedicated to explaining to White readers why they shouldn’t use the N-word and how valuable White allyship is may make readers of color (and many White readers) bristle with indignation and discomfort despite Acho’s positive intentions.
Ultimately adds little to conversations about race. (glossary, FAQ, recommended reading, references) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-80106-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2021
It’s an eye-opening case study in how history and folklore can intertwine.
With assistance from Aronson, a veteran author/editor and nabob of nonfiction, Nelson recasts his adult title Steel Drivin’ Man: The Untold Story of an American Legend (2006) into a briefer account that not only suspensefully retraces his search for the man behind the ballad, but also serves as a useful introduction to historical-research methods.
Supported by a generous array of late-19th- and early-20th-century photos—mostly of chain-gang “trackliners” and other rail workers—the narrative pieces together clues from song lyrics, an old postcard, scattered business records and other sources, arriving finally at both a photo that just might be the man himself, and strong evidence of the drilling contest’s actual location. The author then goes on to make speculative but intriguing links between the trackliners’ work and the origins of the blues and rock-’n’-roll, and Aronson himself closes with an analytical appendix.
It’s an eye-opening case study in how history and folklore can intertwine. (maps, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Dec. 11, 2007
ISBN: 978-1-4263-0000-4
Page Count: 64
Publisher: National Geographic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2007
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