There’s no choice here. Buy it!
Some choices are harder than others.
Growing up, student Gavin Grimm knew about choices. He knew whether to eat worms on a dare, whether to sneakily adopt a pet frog and hide it from his mother, and that he had to make a choice about standing up for his right to use the boys’ bathroom at school. This last choice, however, was deemed controversial by a transphobic teacher and by students who bullied Gavin. But Gavin still had a decision to make: He could stay silent, or he could fight back. In this picture-book, trans activist Grimm, with author Lukoff, documents his early life and his role fighting for trans rights, a battle that sadly is far from over. The story’s simple but direct text and vibrant digital illustrations work in tandem to create a beautiful, harmonious story that deftly documents Gavin’s fight and explains why trans rights are basic human rights. While librarians and educators will find this an essential title for their shelves, book clubs and individual readers will equally find it useful for discussion, contemplation, and as an excellent introduction to the discussion of trans rights from a humanist perspective. While Gavin’s story is far from over—and he may have many rocky roads ahead—this book will help readers and their caregivers better understand why it was necessary for him to make these difficult but vital choices.
There’s no choice here. Buy it! (Picture-book biography. 6-10)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06305-756-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era.
The New Orleans school child who famously broke the color line in 1960 while surrounded by federal marshals describes the early days of her experience from a 6-year-old’s perspective.
Bridges told her tale to younger children in 2009’s Ruby Bridges Goes to School, but here the sensibility is more personal, and the sometimes-shocking historical photos have been replaced by uplifting painted scenes. “I didn’t find out what being ‘the first’ really meant until the day I arrived at this new school,” she writes. Unfrightened by the crowd of “screaming white people” that greets her at the school’s door (she thinks it’s like Mardi Gras) but surprised to find herself the only child in her classroom, and even the entire building, she gradually realizes the significance of her act as (in Smith’s illustration) she compares a small personal photo to the all-White class photos posted on a bulletin board and sees the difference. As she reflects on her new understanding, symbolic scenes first depict other dark-skinned children marching into classes in her wake to friendly greetings from lighter-skinned classmates (“School is just school,” she sensibly concludes, “and kids are just kids”) and finally an image of the bright-eyed icon posed next to a soaring bridge of reconciliation. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A unique angle on a watershed moment in the civil rights era. (author and illustrator notes, glossary) (Autobiographical picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-75388-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Orchard/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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