An inspiring true story of female empowerment.
In author/illustrator Hechter’s educational nonfiction children’s book, kids learn a valuable lesson about how to use activism and perseverance.
In 2016, a troop of New York City Girl Scouts on a museum visit were shocked to learn that no real-life women were commemorated by any of the many statues in Central Park. They immediately took action, joining with an organization called Monumental Women to picket, fundraise, and challenge elected officials about this omission. They spoke to passersby, the media, the parks department, and, eventually, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio. This is an illustrated book aimed at middle-grade readers; the writing is straightforward, describing the determined Girl Scouts’ fight via a handful of short episodes. Although it’s light on text, it contains complex ideas and language suitable to its intended age group. Most illustrations depict the Girl Scouts, showing them to be a diverse group. The specificity of each girl is eye-catching and compelling, and it’s effectively amplified by the attribution of all dialogue to real-life girls, identified by their full names. Images of settings and supporting characters are often rough sketches, creating a sense of depth while highlighting the girls. In a striking illustration of the completed monument, three bronze figures of women’s rights pioneers are set against a greenish-gold background that effectively evokes Central Park as well as a feeling of celebration. Only the presentation of the text falls short; the typeface choice is uninspired, the letters are small and close together, and the placement of text blocks is awkward at times.
An inspiring true story of female empowerment.Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781643713809
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Red Chair Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information.
Two youngsters embark on a journey peppered with history, trivia, and skits while teaching money lessons.
Meet Mellody and John, the young stars of this currency showcase. Their very first dialogue offers a taste of the intriguing information to come, from the ancient Mayans’ use of cacao beans as payment to the origins of the piggy bank. The book offers a chronologically and geographically broad timeline of the history of money, encompassing the past 3.9 billion years (starting with meteorite crashes that scattered metals—“the very first bank deposit”) and referencing practices across five continents. Readers will find themselves eagerly sharing the facts gleaned here, including the centuries-old origins of terms and expressions still used today. Mellody and John’s fun banter crucially reflects their experiences with money, such as their families’ differing attitudes toward allowances. Both are savers as well as givers, sharing stories about giving to charity. In one especially entertaining section, a cat and a bunny converse in money-related catchphrases that are separately defined at the bottom of each page. Stevens’ watercolors are appropriately realistic and appealing, whether depicting Mellody’s pretend bank or Elizabeth II’s butler ironing a 10-pound note. Messages about money’s use as a means to an end, rather than an end in itself, ensure that readers will think about their own purposes for their savings. Mellody and John are Black.
A variety show brimming with esoteric and practical information. (index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9781536224719
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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