A candid rumination on cultural heritage, connection, and determined individuality.
The unexpected effects of language on cultural identity come into focus in this beguiling graphic memoir.
It began in Spanish class, where 13-year-old Marcela learned she possessed an advantage over her classmates due to language exposure at home with her Colombian father and Spanish-speaking American mother. Grammatical rules threw the teen for a loop, however. Under the tutelage of her kind maestra, Doña Maribel, Marcela picked up the intricacies of sentence formations and conjugations in Spanish. Connecting the initiation of her formal education in Spanish with the informal lessons gleaned at home in Michigan and during rare family trips to Colombia, the author connects various eye-opening threads exploring the ways that language can shape—and even inhibit—one’s identity development, from examples set forth by “unofficial teachers”—street vendors and a foul-mouthed soccer-watching uncle—to experiences in which others questioned her identity. Amid these shared encounters, the author circles back to familia, which formed the roots of her eventual desire to connect with her Colombian relatives and embrace Spanish in the classroom and abroad in Spain. Selfhood remains ever changing throughout her reflections: “What is identity, anyways? It’s constantly changing, and being a heritage speaker means I inhabit different cultural spaces and am always negotiating in-betweenness.” Meanwhile, the provocative black-and-white artwork—contributed by the author’s brother—blends kaleidoscopic visuals with an impish sense of humor.
A candid rumination on cultural heritage, connection, and determined individuality. (Graphic memoir. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780814259153
Page Count: 70
Publisher: Mad Creek/Ohio State Univ. Press
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2024
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change.
Testa’s connection to and respect for nature compelled her to begin championing animal causes at the age of 10, and this desire to have an impact later propelled her to dedicate her life to fighting plastic pollution. Starting with the history of plastic and how it’s produced, Testa acknowledges the benefits of plastics for humanity but also the many ways it harms our planet. Instead of relying on recycling—which is both insufficient and ineffective—she urges readers to follow two additional R’s: “refuse” and “raise awareness.” Readers are encouraged to do their part, starting with small things like refusing to use plastic straws and water bottles and eventually working up to using their voices to influence business and policy change. In the process, she highlights other youth advocates working toward the same cause. Short chapters include personal examples, such as observations of plastic pollution in Mauritius, her maternal grandparents’ birthplace. Testa makes her case not only against plastic pollution, but also for the work she’s done, resulting in something of a college-admissions–essay tone. Nevertheless, the first-person accounts paired with science will have an impact on readers. Unfortunately, no sources are cited and the lack of backmatter is a missed opportunity.
Brief yet inspirational, this story will galvanize youth to use their voices for change. (Nonfiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-22333-8
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
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