Biography

Growing Up Pedro: How the Martinez Brothers Made It from the Dominican Republic All the Way to the Major Leagues by Matt Tavares

~ Janet Dawson ~ Leave a comment

Published by Candlewick

In honor of Opening Day at Fenway Park!

Summary:  The book opens with this 1998 quote from Pedro Martinez: “Ramon is the biggest reason I have gotten where I am.  He is the great one in this family.  I am still Ramon’s little brother.”  Tavares then relates the story not only of pitching great Pedro Martinez, but of his older brother Ramon, also an MLB player, who inspired Pedro to work as hard as he did.  Growing up in poverty in the Dominican Republic, the brothers dreamed of playing professional baseball.  When Pedro was 12, his brother began his pro career training at the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Dominican academy.  Pedro tagged along and learned alongside Ramon.  Eight years later, both of them were playing in Los Angeles.  Pedro went on to a legendary career, including leading the Red Sox to a World Series victory in 2004, but his ties to his brother and his home in the Dominican Republic remain strong.

Pros:  Add this to Matt Tavares’ list of great baseball biographies, along with Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, and Ted Williams.  Sports fans will be inspired by the brothers’ rags-to-riches story and will enjoy the large, vivid illustrations.

Cons:  It would be interesting to know more about what Pedro and Ramon are doing now via the author’s note.

Gordon Parks: How the Photographer Captured Black and White America by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jamey Christoph

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Albert Whitman and Company

Summary:  Born in 1915 in Kansas, Gordon Parks grew up hearing from his white teachers that he was destined to be a porter or a waiter.  He did indeed become a waiter, but the purchase of a $7.50 camera put him on the road to a new career as a photographer.  He worked for the Farm Security Administration, Life, and Vogue, and was the first African American to direct a feature film.  He used his photos to work for human rights, exposing the plight of African Americans in big cities like Chicago and Washington, D.C.

Pros:  The lyrical writing and colorful illustrations are a perfect match.  I love biographies like this that teach about a little-known person who made contributions to both art and humanitarianism.

Cons:  The spare text gives only the bare bones of Parks’ life.  Be sure to read the author’s note at the end.

Draw What You See: The Life and Art of Benny Andrews by Kathleen Benson, illustrated by Benny Andrews.

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Published by Clarion Books

Summary:  Born in 1933 to sharecropper parents in Plainview, Georgia, Benny Andrews started drawing at the age of three.  He was able to finish high school, attend college, and eventually studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  He worked as an artist and a teacher, illustrated children’s books, was an activist to get museums to include more works by artists of color, and started a prison art program.  In 2006, he traveled to New Orleans to help children to use art to express what they had seen.  In an age of abstract art, Andrews believed in the power of “drawing what you see”, focusing his work on people and scenes from his own life.

Pros:  Not only does this story bring to life a man who contributed to the world in many positive ways, but it’s illustrated with his own works.  Since Andrews died in 2006, it doesn’t appear that he actually illustrated the book, but the artwork chosen vividly illustrates the text, and provides many examples of his interesting work.

Cons:  This seems to be the only biography in existence about this interesting and inspiring artist.

Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery

~ Janet Dawson ~ 1 Comment

Published by Dial Books

Summary:  “By the time I was fifteen years old, I had been in jail nine times.”  So begins Lynda Blackmon Lowery’s memoir of growing up in Selma, Alabama.  What heinous crimes had she committed to have spent so much time in jail?  Joining the marches to give blacks in Alabama the right to vote.  Lynda turned 15 on the Selma to Montgomery march in March, 1965.  The youngest member of the group of 300 that made the trip, she wanted to go so that she could show George Wallace the bandages she still had from the beating she received on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965, protesting the murder of activist Jimmie Lee Jackson.  “You have a voice, too,” Blackmun concludes her story, “and with determination, you can be a history maker, just like me.”

Pros:  With the movie Selma, the events of fifty years ago are in the news again.  This is a powerful introduction for kids and teens, told by a girl just like them, who found the courage over and over again to speak out for what she believed in.

Cons:  Although there is nothing terribly graphic, some of the stories may be disturbing to younger kids.  There should definitely be some discussion and historical context to go along with reading this book.