An American story of beating the odds and overcoming bigotry to create something greater than oneself. Inspiring.
A loving profile of Minoru “Yama” Yamasaki, a pioneering Japanese American architect whose buildings became cultural symbols across America.
When Yama was young, there were places he felt seen and those that did not welcome him. In this chronicle, his author/illustrator granddaughter shares how Yama overcame discrimination to become one of the great 20th-century architects. Lovely, lyrical prose begins Yama’s story as the world makes assumptions about his family—and how despite these degradations, he believes in the truth of his potential. Through the Great Depression and World War II as anti-Japanese sentiment rises, Yama strives to bring light and serenity to the places he creates. The artist’s painted illustrations layer elements of the architect’s stylings into each spread. The complicated renderings are earnest in their effort to convey a complex narrative. Not mentioned by name, the World Trade Center is referenced, offering a fuller view of what happened to some of Yama’s creations. While this transition is a bit abrupt, the author offers a more comprehensive look at Yama’s life and his masterpieces in the backmatter along with illustrations of his most famous buildings. Despite this change in tone, the author successfully captures the longing to fulfill the American dream and Yama’s patience and courage as he pursued that dream in the face of racism. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
An American story of beating the odds and overcoming bigotry to create something greater than oneself. Inspiring. (Picture-book biography. 6-8)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-324-01701-1
Page Count: 56
Publisher: Norton Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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