Four months ago, every library in America needed a book for young people on bin Laden; now, this prolific nonfiction author delivers the biography she has spent three years researching. After a hastily written chapter on the September 11 attacks, bin Laden’s life is portrayed in as much detail as is known: his privileged upbringing, his transformative experiences in Afghanistan, his later career in Sudan, the Philippines, and Somalia, and his growing influence in radical Islamic circles. Landau’s prose is not particularly graceful, but the story is intrinsically chilling. Scrupulously distinguishing bin Laden’s beliefs and actions from mainstream Islam, she roundly condemns his terrorist activities, yet also fairly presents those qualities that have made him both revered and effective: his intelligence and organizational skills, his religious fervor, bravery, and personal austerity. Less successful are the explanations for the attraction of his extremist ideology; the repressive conditions in many Islamic nations are glossed over, and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict never mentioned. Other complex issues are over-simplified, sometimes to the point of minor error. Teens who have been avidly following current events will find little new here; others will gain an adequate introduction to “who” and “how,” but will need to look elsewhere for “why.” Black-and-white photos are more decorative than illustrative, but unfortunately there are no maps. She includes further reading, a woefully inadequate glossary (e.g., including “Shiite” but not “Sunni”), skimpy source notes (two-thirds from just two books), and an index. (Nonfiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7613-1709-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Twenty-First Century/Millbrook
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2002
Small but mighty necessary reading.
A miniature manifesto for radical queer acceptance that weaves together the personal and political.
Eli, a cis gay white Jewish man, uses his own identities and experiences to frame and acknowledge his perspective. In the prologue, Eli compares the global Jewish community to the global queer community, noting, “We don’t always get it right, but the importance of showing up for other Jews has been carved into the DNA of what it means to be Jewish. It is my dream that queer people develop the same ideology—what I like to call a Global Queer Conscience.” He details his own isolating experiences as a queer adolescent in an Orthodox Jewish community and reflects on how he and so many others would have benefitted from a robust and supportive queer community. The rest of the book outlines 10 principles based on the belief that an expectation of mutual care and concern across various other dimensions of identity can be integrated into queer community values. Eli’s prose is clear, straightforward, and powerful. While he makes some choices that may be divisive—for example, using the initialism LGBTQIAA+ which includes “ally”—he always makes clear those are his personal choices and that the language is ever evolving.
Small but mighty necessary reading. (resources) (Nonfiction. 14-18)Pub Date: June 2, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-09368-9
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2020
Historical fiction examines the famous case of Emmett Till, whose murder was one of the triggers of the civil-rights movement. Hiram Hillburn knows R.C. Rydell is evil. He watches R.C. mutilate a catfish, but does nothing to stop him. “I didn’t want to end up like that fish,” he says. He watches R.C. throw stones at a neighbor’s house and humiliate 14-year-old Emmett Till, an African-American visitor from Chicago, and still he does nothing. Hiram says, “When things are scary or dangerous, it’s hard to see clear what to do.” When Till is brutally murdered, Hiram is sure R.C. is involved. Hiram, a white teenager who has come back to the Mississippi town where his father grew up, is the narrator and the perspective of the white outsider and the layers of his moral reflection make this an excellent examination of a difficult topic. When the case comes to trial, Hiram knows he must face his own trial: can he stand up to evil and do the right thing? He knows Mr. Paul, the local storeowner, is right: “Figure out what’s right and what’s wrong, and make yourself do the right thing. Do that and no matter what happens, no matter what people say, you’ll have no regrets.” This is a complicated thing to do, as Hiram must summon inner strength and come to terms with who he is—the son of an English professor who hates everything about the South and the grandson of a farmer who loves everything about it. Teen readers will find themselves caught up in Hiram’s very real struggle to do the right thing. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8037-2745-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2002
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