A powerful story of dedication and determination.
A memoir from a student who witnessed the 9/11 attacks and her subsequent fight for survivor health care services.
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Nordstrom was sitting in her classroom at Stuyvesant High School, located a few blocks from ground zero. Following the attacks on the Twin Towers, she and her fellow classmates escaped lower Manhattan. However, one month later, students in the area were ushered back to school on assurance from the Environmental Protection Agency that the air and water quality in the area were safe. According to Nordstrom, returning to school was a major controversy among the student body. Smelling the acrid air as fires continued to burn and witnessing countless loads of debris being removed from the area with trails of dust following, the students knew something wasn’t right, but they felt powerless to do anything. Before long, there were reports of cancer and respiratory illnesses among Stuyvesant’s teachers, staff, and students. The EPA would later admit they did not have sufficient data at the time to support their initial statement regarding the area’s air and water quality. “For us the deaths came later, all from illness,” writes the author. Nordstrom candidly chronicles the events she witnessed on 9/11 and her ongoing struggle with PTSD as well as her quest for normalcy and purpose. The author shares moving details about her own and other survivors’ struggles, including problems obtaining insurance and differences in services offered to them versus those given to first responders. She discusses her advocacy work bringing to light the survivors’ plight, including starting the StuyHealth group, attending Victim Compensation Fund events, and testifying at a House Judiciary hearing alongside Jon Stewart, Hillary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi. Regarding her reason for becoming an advocate, the author writes, “this was the only way to exercise agency in a situation in which I had none.” Nordstrom also provides helpful information and resources for others interested in pursuing advocacy and community work.
A powerful story of dedication and determination.Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-948062-62-6
Page Count: 360
Publisher: Apollo Publishers
Review Posted Online: June 21, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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