A little rough but ultimately a beautiful celebration of Indigenous excellence.
Kinew uses lyrical language to pay tribute to Indigenous heroes and leaders of North America.
In his picture-book debut, Canadian politician and musician Kinew (Ojibways of Onigaming First Nation) aims to uplift and inspire youth, especially Indigenous youth. Readers learn about historical figures such as Sac and Fox athlete Jim Thorpe, Omaha doctor Susan LaFlesche Picotte, and Mohawk Olympian Waneek Horn-Miller, who was wounded by a soldier during the Oka crisis. Touching on topics of Creation, Indian boarding schools, and the anti–Dakota Access Pipeline movement, this book has a broad reach. Though the lines in verse are occasionally awkward, Kinew packs a great deal of power into just a few words: “We are people who matter. / Yes, it’s true. / Now let’s show the world what people who matter can do.” That being said, the spread honoring Sacagawea unquestioningly portrays her as a willing agent in American imperialism, which it celebrates by implication: “Under starry nights west Sacagawea led / Lewis and Clark, so America could spread. / Plus she healed them when they were almost dead. / The men got the credit, but should she have instead?” Morse’s watercolor, digital color, and collage illustrations are masterful. Long limbs and necks, powerful hands, and photorealistic details are characteristic of his style. Most figures are either facing readers or moving towards the right, creating a flow that suggests looking forward to a bright and hopeful future.
A little rough but ultimately a beautiful celebration of Indigenous excellence. (author’s note, biographies) (Informational picture book. 5-12)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-7352-6292-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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