Presents harsh realities and thought-provoking content critical to understanding U.S. history.
Relays the heart-wrenching experiences of the American Indian boarding school era.
This comprehensive and complex text by Jones (Ponca) follows four generations of his family’s education at Chilocco Indian Agricultural School, starting with the experience of his grandmother. In 1885, when she was just 4, government officials stole her from her family and drove her a great distance away by wagon for boarding school. Ponca Tribe members had already been forcibly relocated from their Nebraska homelands by the U.S. government to Oklahoma. Jones explains how the boarding schools erased Native culture from students’ lives to assimilate them into dominant white society. He details the cultural genocide and displacement of Native peoples, describing the poverty and other lingering effects through subsequent generations. Throughout the text, which combines general historical background with his family’s story, readers learn about the abuse of and systematic attacks on American Indian people over the century that the boarding schools were in existence. The density of the information included requires some patience from readers, but Jones also offers hope, describing the revitalization of Native culture and people’s ability to live in two worlds despite the U.S. government’s history of legal restraints on sovereign Native nations. Text boxes provide extensive context, but their placement can distract from the flow of the narrative. Jones’ truth-telling and the family experiences he weaves throughout will surely ignite a fire deep within the souls of Native youth today.
Presents harsh realities and thought-provoking content critical to understanding U.S. history. (bibliography, photo credits) (Nonfiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2024
ISBN: 9781338889475
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic Focus
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Full of laughter and sentiment, this is a nudge for readers to dare to try new things.
A 1989 summer trip to Europe changes Caldecott Medal winner Santat’s life in this graphic memoir.
Young Dan hasn’t experienced much beyond the small Southern California town he grew up in. He stays out of trouble, helps his parents, and tries to go unnoticed in middle school. That plan gets thwarted when he is made to recite poetry at a school assembly and is humiliated by his peers. When eighth grade is over and his parents send him on a three-week study abroad program, Dan isn’t excited at first. He’s traveling with girls from school whom he has awkward relationships with, his camera breaks, and he feels completely out of place. But with the help of some new friends, a crush, and an encouraging teacher, Dan begins to appreciate and enjoy the journey. Through experiences like his first taste of Fanta, first time hearing French rap, and first time getting lost on his own in a foreign country in the middle of the night, he finally begins to feel comfortable just being himself and embracing the unexpected. This entertaining graphic memoir is a relatable story of self-discovery. Flashbacks to awkward memories are presented in tones of blue that contrast with the full-color artwork through which Santat creates the perfect balance of humor and poignancy. The author’s note and photos offer readers more fun glimpses into his pivotal adventure.
Full of laughter and sentiment, this is a nudge for readers to dare to try new things. (Graphic memoir. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85104-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality.
An examination of the history of Chinese American experiences.
Blackburn opens with a note to readers about growing up feeling invisible as a multicultural, biracial Chinese American. She notes the tremendous diversity of Chinese American history and writes that this book is a starting point for learning more. The evenly paced narrative starts with the earliest recorded arrival of the Chinese in America in 1834. A teenage girl, whose real name is unknown, arrived in New York Harbor with the Carnes brothers, merchants who imported Chinese goods and put her on display “like an animal in a circus.” The author then examines shifting laws, U.S. and global political and economic climates, and changing societal attitudes. The book introduces the highlighted people—including Yee Ah Tye, Wong Kim Ark, Mabel Ping-Hua Lee, and Vincent Chen—in relation to lawsuits or other transformative events; they also stand as examples for explaining concepts such as racial hierarchy and the model minority myth. Maps, photos, and documents are interspersed throughout. Chapters close with questions that encourage readers to think critically about systems of oppression, actively engage with the material, and draw connections to their own lives. Although the book covers a wide span of history, from the Gold Rush to the rise in anti-Asian hate during the Covid-19 pandemic, it thoroughly explains the various events. Blackburn doesn’t shy away from describing terrible setbacks, but she balances them with examples of solidarity and progress.
Deftly written and informative; a call for vigilance and equality. (resources, bibliography, image credits) (Nonfiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9780593567630
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
