A must-read for music history buffs, punk fans, and educators.
An award-winning educator recounts her role in the early days of the American punk and hardcore scenes—experiences that, four decades later, shape how she teaches.
Barile’s childhood was severely circumscribed: In her suburban Philadelphia home, her father ruled with threats of physical punishment, and at her mostly White Catholic school, nuns bullied students into submission. Music became her escape, and it’s no wonder that Barile eventually found her way to punk music; its rejection of mainstream ideologies and expectations was liberating and validating. Barile’s narrative pushes past the long-held belief that women in punk and hardcore music waited on the side, holding their boyfriends’ coats while the men moshed in the pit. To the contrary, she became the manager of a popular Philly hardcore punk band, a wild ride recounted in vivid and lively detail. Barile has a clear, approachable voice that she uses to tell myriad great stories, including how she became pen pals with Patti Smith’s mother, got a sloppy smooch from Iggy Pop, and ran into the Clash on the street. The book is filled with satisfying extras, such as numerous personal photos that bring the era to life for today’s readers, as well as a lengthy playlist and a foreword by Dischord Records founder Ian MacKaye. The connection between her punk days and her desire to empower students, especially those from marginalized backgrounds, adds additional depth.
A must-read for music history buffs, punk fans, and educators. (Memoir. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 29, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-935950-20-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Bazillion Points
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
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
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change.
Artist and activist Vaid-Menon demonstrates how the normativity of the gender binary represses creativity and inflicts physical and emotional violence.
The author, whose parents emigrated from India, writes about how enforcement of the gender binary begins before birth and affects people in all stages of life, with people of color being especially vulnerable due to Western conceptions of gender as binary. Gender assignments create a narrative for how a person should behave, what they are allowed to like or wear, and how they express themself. Punishment of nonconformity leads to an inseparable link between gender and shame. Vaid-Menon challenges familiar arguments against gender nonconformity, breaking them down into four categories—dismissal, inconvenience, biology, and the slippery slope (fear of the consequences of acceptance). Headers in bold font create an accessible navigation experience from one analysis to the next. The prose maintains a conversational tone that feels as intimate and vulnerable as talking with a best friend. At the same time, the author's turns of phrase in moments of deep insight ring with precision and poetry. In one reflection, they write, “the most lethal part of the human body is not the fist; it is the eye. What people see and how people see it has everything to do with power.” While this short essay speaks honestly of pain and injustice, it concludes with encouragement and an invitation into a future that celebrates transformation.
A fierce, penetrating, and empowering call for change. (writing prompt) (Nonfiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09465-5
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
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