A solid, factual addition to the STEM and notable-women shelves.
No one suspected that an actress would create a groundbreaking technology….
From childhood, Hedwig Kiesler had two interests: the way things worked and the way people acted. Straightforward text coupled with engaging full-page and spot illustrations made primarily with paper collage tells the eventful story of the girl who would become Hedy Lamarr. The account moves chronologically from her curiosity as a child living in poverty-stricken Austria through her development as an actress, her fledgling attempts at invention, and her escape from an unhappy marriage to America to her support of Allied troops during World War II and her continued interest in science and new ideas. Hedy’s co-creation of frequency hopping—a technology still used widely in missiles, microwaves, software, and cellphones—is shown to be a major accomplishment even though it was not recognized as such until many years later. Although there is insufficient contextualization of how her opportunities may have been limited by gender roles of the time, this is a clear and interesting portrait, and Hedy is portrayed as a strong, intelligent woman full of talent and innovation and is sure to provide young readers with inspiration and encouragement to investigate new ideas of their own. Divided into chapters, the book has lengthier text than the simultaneously publishing picture-book biography Hedy Lamarr’s Double Life, by Laurie Wallmark and illustrated by Katy Wu.
A solid, factual addition to the STEM and notable-women shelves. (Biography. 7-12)Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-998-7999-9-5
Page Count: 36
Publisher: Penny Candy
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2018
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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