A captivating slice of little-known U.S. history.
A brave woman’s inventive idea helped win the American Revolution.
In 1778, America’s future looked hopeless. George Washington needed spies! To meet that need, Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge formed the Culper Ring, devising codes so these covert agents could send secret messages, often in invisible ink. Tallmadge recruited one woman—Anna Smith Strong—whose Long Island home was near British headquarters in New York City. Having Loyalist relatives allowed her to mingle with British society. Who’d accuse her of spying? Anna proved capable and cunning. When British officers commandeered her home, she stealthily listened to their plotting. She concocted an ingenious scheme that signaled information was available for Washington and fellow co-conspirators, turning the laundry on her line into a code that provided the advance knowledge Washington needed to ambush enemy soldiers, helping him ultimately to turn the tide of the conflict. The British never suspected. This exciting, well-told tale places readers in the thick of things and illuminates an unsung American heroine. Lively illustrations done in a naïve style that reflects the period capture the setting convincingly and depict a few codes. Characters present white; a street scene shows a brown-skinned woman. Fascinating information in the backmatter includes Culper codes and a recipe for invisible ink.
A captivating slice of little-known U.S. history. (author’s note, artist’s note, notes, bibliography, index) (Picture book/biography. 6-9)Pub Date: March 3, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3419-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: Dec. 7, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
PERSPECTIVES
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