What this book does best is place current modes of social media and their impact in a historical context and encourage...
What do Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have in common with coffeehouses, broadsides and the Sears, Roebuck & Co. mail-order catalogue? They are all types of social networking.
Using examples from hundreds of years of American history, DiPiazza shows readers that long before the Internet or even electricity, there was plenty of social networking going on. The author defines social networks as "groups of people connected by common interests and needs." With that broad definition, she proceeds to explain how ring shouts organized by slaves, calling cards, telegrams, radio and telephones are all examples of social media. Clear text explains the essential role social networking plays in such things as cooperative ventures, the structure of communities, the exchange of ideas and knowledge and the organization of political protests. The book also notes that along with the great strides advanced technologies have brought to social networking, there are also dark sides, such as bullying, fraud and cyber-stalking. Short chapters liberally illustrated with photographs and other archival material take readers chronologically from pre-Columbian North America to today.
What this book does best is place current modes of social media and their impact in a historical context and encourage readers to think about social networking in a whole new way. (Nonfiction. 10-18) (bibliography, further reading, index, primary source quotations, source notes, websites) (Nonfiction10-18)Pub Date: May 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-7613-5869-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Lerner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 28, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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