Författarbild
24 verk 201 medlemmar 6 recensioner

Om författaren

Peggy Caravantes lives and writes in San Antonio, Texas. She is the author of a number of books for young adults, including biographies of Marcus Garvey, Jane Addams, Charles Dickens, Robert Frost, and O. Henry, all published by Morgan Reynolds.

Serier

Verk av Peggy Caravantes

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Kön
female
Nationalitet
USA
Bostadsorter
San Antonio, Texas, USA
Yrken
teacher
school superintendent
school principal
writer
Kort biografi
Peggy Caravantes is the author of more than a dozen other books for middle grades and young adult readers. A former English and history teacher, middle school principal, and deputy school superintendent and frequent speaker at schools and various organizations, her books have been selected for the California Titles for Young Adults, Tri-State Books of Note, and Top Forty Young Adult Nonfiction Books lists. She lives in San Antonio, Texas.

Medlemmar

Recensioner

A captivating account of the 1921 Wrangel Island Expedition which, through a series of misfortunes, left Ada Blackjack alone on the island and desperate to survive. Source Notes. Bibliography.
 
Flaggad
NCSS | Jul 23, 2021 |
When reviewing non-fiction books, I always like to check the references and any other information provided by the author. Like any good biography, the author includes a timeline, a glossary to reference unfamiliar terms, and most important, a bibliography. Of the thirteen sources cited only three were scholarly presses, which seems a bit light. As a social historian, I find myself reading passages more critically than I would with a book containing at least half of its sources from scholarly presses.
For example, the author references Jane Addams goal to "end wars that consumed the world in the first half of the twentieth century" and while the author mentions both the Spanish-American War and World War I and that Jane was an advocate for peace, it is evident that Jane's real goal was helping immigrants and the poor who were impoverished by Industrial Revolutions and overcrowded cities around the world. Even more odd, the author transitions the rumor of the "Devil Baby" of Hull House to Jane Addams believing women had the right to vote with literally no segway.
As for Jane Addams, it is no wonder she was a social activist, her father was a friend and staunch supporter of Abraham Lincoln who raised enough money to form his own regiment when the Civil War erupted. He also supported his community by building the first school, church, and library in their growing town.
Jane was exposed to poverty at a young age and although she came from a privileged life, the sight of immigrants living in squalor stuck with her. LIke most social heroines, Jane suffered a myriad of heart ache. She lost her mother, father, and several siblings. She worked hard for what she attained and even had to step in and help her remaining siblings when they were incapable.
While reading, I couldn't help but feel we need more Jane Addamses in the world. "More and more people were interested in making the world a better place for everyone, not just the wealthy few" makes me nostalgic for the late nineteenth century. In my opinion, her most important social justice contributions were to the young child laborers, sick and suffering children, and to the children affected by unsanitary living conditions and abject poverty.
… (mer)
½
 
Flaggad
JSkoros | Mar 27, 2019 |
Most people recognize Josephine Baker as that dancer in the banana skirt. But Josephine Baker was a far more complex character than can be summarized in one sentence. Starting life in the poorest slums of East St. Louis, Baker went on to gain international fame dancing and singing on stage and eventually on screen. An extravagant dresser with a mercurial temperament, Josephine made friends wherever she went. She gave away her entire fortune, eventually dying shortly after staging a successful comeback.

By any stretch of the imagination, Baker's life is equal parts fairy tale and hard work. From starting work at age 7 as a live in maid to leaving home at 13 to pursue a career as a vaudeville dancer to enthralling Paris, the author of this young adult biography reminds the reader that Josephine herself told many different stories of her early childhood, making it difficult to track down her family that remained behind in America and to determine what is the truth and what is less than true. True, Josephine was married quite young and numerous times. It's true that she adopted a rainbow tribe of young boys and (eventually) girls from around the world. It's also true that Josephine worked as a spy for France during the second World War, pinning notes about what she heard at parties she attended with important leaders of the German Army and Government to her underwear in case she was searched. But underneath it all, the author has managed to portray what really is the heart of Josephine Baker: her impassioned belief that all people, no matter what ethnicity they were, could live together in harmony. Her wartime work, her early support of Martin Luther King Jr. and her rainbow tribe all echo the fact that Josephine Baker believed humanity was capable of overcoming racism.

The wonderful thing about this book is not only its subject, a glamorous talented wealthy cosmopolitan performer, but the additional facts that the author provides to give context for the reader. Page long side bars on everything from East St. Louis's Boxcar Town to Grace Kelly set the stage and inform the reader about important background information to help understand Josephine's life in context of the world she lived in and affected so wonderfully.

While the author doesn't whitewash any of the negative aspects of Josephine's story, including her anger and frustration at others, the other details she provides more than prove that in spite of her human failings, Josephine Baker worked hard to uphold the basic human rights of others all across the globe.


Julie K. / Marathon County Public Library
Find this book in our library catalog.

… (mer)
 
Flaggad
mcpl.wausau | 1 annan recension | Sep 25, 2017 |
As someone with an undergraduate degree in American Indian Studies who has continued to read about Natives for the past 25 years, I am still always learning of important and amazing Native people in virtually every possible field of influence. As with America’s other underrepresented populations with similar accomplishments, women are still underrepresented, so this book is especially valuable. Having been published by a Montana press, I had hoped to see at least one woman from Montana or a Montana tribe represented.

I would encourage teens or even pre-teens – girls and boys alike - to read this book during Women’s History or Native American Heritage months. They would then do either further research about one of these women or another Native woman who is a “daughter of two nations.” I think it is important for boys to read about important women as well as men. Girls are already reading about men all the time!
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
ScottPrinzing | Jan 25, 2016 |

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Sarah Olson Book and cover designer

Statistik

Verk
24
Medlemmar
201
Popularitet
#109,507
Betyg
½ 3.6
Recensioner
6
ISBN
59

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