Compelling and inspiring true-life success stories that fill a yawning gap in representation.
This debut nonfiction work for children collects biographical sketches of prominent Africans from many fields.
In picture books, movies, newspapers, and other media, many children grow up seeing only White images of success or beauty—even African kids—which seriously affects self-image and a sense of what’s possible. In his illustrated book, Nzelu addresses the need for better representation of African accomplishments by bringing together short biographies of standout men and women, each entry including a life story, portrait, and representative quotation. The bios are grouped into five sections: “Artists & Authors,” “Athletes,” “Entrepreneurs,” “Innovators & Scientists,” and “Leaders & Humanitarians.” Across all categories, the work offers a stellar lineup of individuals who can boast impressive accomplishments. Entrepreneur Mo Ibrahim, for example, founded the booming telecom company Celtel; humanitarian Wangari Maathai became the first African woman and the first environmental scientist to win the Nobel Peace Prize. A theme throughout is that success comes through hard work, discipline, perseverance, and education and also means giving back to the community in some way. Examples abound, such as the NBA’s Basketball Hall of Fame athlete Dikembe Mutombo, whose foundation built a hospital near his home of Kinshasa in Congo. Although the short format of these bios doesn’t allow a wealth of details, they’re engagingly written, accompanied by pithy, well-chosen quotes. The quote by Nigerian artist Njideka Akunyili Crosby, for example, gets at the book’s heart: “You don’t exist if you are not represented...I felt a need to create my own social existence by making the representation happen.” Beyond being an enjoyable read, the volume can serve as the starting point of a research project. The illustration team, Nimble Pencils, contributes vibrant, richly hued pictures that skillfully convey the subjects’ confidence and pride.
Compelling and inspiring true-life success stories that fill a yawning gap in representation.Pub Date: June 1, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5272-7466-2
Page Count: 92
Publisher: Bright Lights Books
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss.
It’s 1983, and 13-year-old Indian American Reha feels caught between two worlds.
Monday through Friday, she goes to a school where she stands out for not being White but where she has a weekday best friend, Rachel, and does English projects with potential crush Pete. On the weekends, she’s with her other best friend, Sunita (Sunny for short), at gatherings hosted by her Indian community. Reha feels frustrated that her parents refuse to acknowledge her Americanness and insist on raising her with Indian values and habits. Then, on the night of the middle school dance, her mother is admitted to the hospital, and Reha’s world is split in two again: this time, between hospital and home. Suddenly she must learn not just how to be both Indian and American, but also how to live with her mother’s leukemia diagnosis. The sections dealing with Reha’s immigrant identity rely on oft-told themes about the overprotectiveness of immigrant parents and lack the nuance found in later pages. Reha’s story of her evolving relationships with her parents, however, feels layered and real, and the scenes in which Reha must grapple with the possible loss of a parent are beautifully and sensitively rendered. The sophistication of the text makes it a valuable and thought-provoking read even for those older than the protagonist.
An intimate novel that beautifully confronts grief and loss. (Verse novel. 11-15)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-304742-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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