A well-documented, highly condensed introduction with substantial visual appeal.
Highlights of the women’s suffrage movement in the U.S. in the second decade of the 20th century.
When young Americans Alice Paul and Lucy Burns, both white college graduates, met in London in June 1909, they formed a connection that would energize the next 11 years of activism for women’s suffrage in the United States. This very compact account encapsulates much of the information in stellar works for somewhat older readers such as Ann Bausum’s Of Courage and Cloth(2004) and Winifred Conkling’s Votes for Women(2018). Bartoletti recounts the women’s experiences in England during 1909, ending with the hunger strike and forced feeding at Holloway prison from which it would take Paul a month to recover. She details the organization of the 1913 parade in Washington for women’s suffrage on the eve of President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration, taking care to bring attention to the struggle of black women such as Ida B. Wells to be recognized and included. The author also describes Paul’s continued protests and founding of the National Women’s Party as suffragists’ efforts met with ongoing resistance. Sidebars, captions, and the inclusion of photos and newspaper clippings add informative visual interest along with Chen’s clear, unaffected illustrations. Text and pictures convey the conflict and struggle without sensationalism. The inclusion of a photograph of the January 2017 Women’s March acknowledges that there is more work to be done.
A well-documented, highly condensed introduction with substantial visual appeal. (source notes, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: May 19, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-284130-8
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2020
Go adventuring with a better guide.
Find something to do in every state in the U.S.A.!
This guide highlights a location of interest within each of the states, therefore excluding Washington, D.C., and the territories. Trivia about each location is scattered across crisply rendered landscapes that background each state’s double-page spread while diminutive, diverse characters populate the scenes. Befitting the title, one “adventure” is presented per state, such as shrimping in Louisiana’s bayous, snowshoeing in Connecticut, or celebrating the Fourth of July in Boston. While some are stereotypical gimmes (surfing in California), others have the virtue of novelty, at least for this audience, such as viewing the sandhill crane migration in Nebraska. Within this thematic unity, some details go astray, and readers may find themselves searching in vain for animals mentioned. The trivia is plentiful but may be misleading, vague, or incorrect. Information about the Native American peoples of the area is often included, but its brevity—especially regarding sacred locations—means readers are floundering without sufficient context. The same is true for many of the facts that relate directly to expansion and colonialism, such as the unexplained near extinction of bison. Describing the genealogical oral history of South Carolina’s Gullah community as “spin[ning] tales” is equally brusque and offensive. The book tries to do a lot, but it is more style than substance, which may leave readers bored, confused, slightly annoyed—or all three. (This book was reviewed digitally with 12.2-by-20.2-inch double-page spreads viewed at 80% of actual size.)
Go adventuring with a better guide. (tips on local adventuring, index) (Nonfiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-7112-5445-9
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Wide Eyed Editions
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
Thirteen prominent American men and women are briefly profiled in this collection. Chronologically ranging from Thomas Jefferson to Barack Obama, each entry features an inspiring quote from its subject and a concise explanation of his or her context in history. Opposite each page of text is a watercolor painting by the author depicting an image or montage of the notable individual and illustrating the work they achieved or how they lived. Each one evokes the emotions the book is meant to inspire: courage, strength and determination. Franklin Roosevelt gazes reassuringly out at readers above a line of hungry people at a soup kitchen; Rachel Carson smiles at readers against a picture of a soaring bald eagle and an inset of her peering into a microscope. The selection includes four women and five male ethnic minorities. Almost all are familiar faces in collective biographies, including Abraham Lincoln, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, but some names may be new to young readers, such as Emma Lazarus and Cesar Chavez. Included in the backmatter are thumbnail biographies of each figure and a list of source notes. The profiles are indeed inspiring, and younger readers will likely learn something new. For deeper research, students will have to look elsewhere but could use this book as an excellent starting point. (Collective biography. 8-11)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-8225-6810-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Millbrook
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2011
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