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Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'
Ida B. the Queen: The Extraordinary Life and Legacy of Ida B. Wells by Michelle Duster
3 reviews
displacedcactus's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
Ida B. Wells is one of my favorite historical figures, so what a treat to have a book written about her by her great-granddaughter... and then the audio is also read by that same great-granddaughter! Duster's pride at her ancestor's legacy really shines through as she talks about what Wells went through, and what she achieved.
This is not a traditional biography. Rather than giving an exhaustive, chronological accounting of the facts of Wells' life, the book hops back and forth throughout her life to focus on different events, and then draw either parallels to recent/current events, or talk about how her work continued past her death. I'll admit that I didn't really see a rhyme or reason to why things were presented in the order they were in -- it might have made more sense if I was reading the physical or ebook, if there were visual cues? Either way, I enjoyed it, despite the fact that the non-linear nature means that some things got repeated a few times because they were related to several topics. This does make the book feel more personal, because if you were relating stories about your own great-grandmother across several hours, you probably would also loop back around to reference things you'd mentioned earlier.
I feel like this book would be a great introduction to Wells' life, work, and legacy. By tying Wells' activism to civil rights and feminist causes throughout the 20th and 21st century, Duster shows how relevant her ancestor's work was to the generations who came after her, and how it will continue to be relevant in the future. It's also told in a really approachable way. Most chapters were 5-15 minutes on regular speed audio, so it's the sort of thing you can dedicate a few minutes to a day if you're not a big reader.
This book doesn't shy away from the realities of racism and sexism (see content warnings section), but it also doesn't go into excruciating detail. I feel like it would be appropriate for teens and maybe even emotionally mature tweens, as long as adults are prepared to discuss the difficult subject matter with them.
This is not a traditional biography. Rather than giving an exhaustive, chronological accounting of the facts of Wells' life, the book hops back and forth throughout her life to focus on different events, and then draw either parallels to recent/current events, or talk about how her work continued past her death. I'll admit that I didn't really see a rhyme or reason to why things were presented in the order they were in -- it might have made more sense if I was reading the physical or ebook, if there were visual cues? Either way, I enjoyed it, despite the fact that the non-linear nature means that some things got repeated a few times because they were related to several topics. This does make the book feel more personal, because if you were relating stories about your own great-grandmother across several hours, you probably would also loop back around to reference things you'd mentioned earlier.
I feel like this book would be a great introduction to Wells' life, work, and legacy. By tying Wells' activism to civil rights and feminist causes throughout the 20th and 21st century, Duster shows how relevant her ancestor's work was to the generations who came after her, and how it will continue to be relevant in the future. It's also told in a really approachable way. Most chapters were 5-15 minutes on regular speed audio, so it's the sort of thing you can dedicate a few minutes to a day if you're not a big reader.
This book doesn't shy away from the realities of racism and sexism (see content warnings section), but it also doesn't go into excruciating detail. I feel like it would be appropriate for teens and maybe even emotionally mature tweens, as long as adults are prepared to discuss the difficult subject matter with them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Racism
Moderate: Racial slurs, Gun violence, Death of parent, and Child death
Minor: Rape and Classism
Because Wells was so outspoken about lynching, the subject comes up a lot, and multiple lynching incidents are discussed.librarymouse's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Ida B the Queen is a familial exploration of the civil rights movement, the fight for suffrage, and Idea B Wells's hands on work fighting on behalf of individuals and alongside organizations. He great granddaughter does a wonderful job telling the story of Ida's life and work. I just wish that it went into more detail, though that detail might be available in the biography the author's grandmother wrote. I enjoyed the section about the author as a teen and young adults, and how her family encouraged her to live up to her own dreams and expectations for herself instead of aspiring to emulate her great-grandmother. The organization of the book with the timeline in the middle also kind of threw me off. I was listening to it as an audiobook and I thought that I'd accidentally skipped to the last section when I hit the timeline. I feel like it would have worked better as a part of the conclusion. The slow pacing of the timeline is it my preferred method of organization of historical events, but I did enjoy the side bars that further explained the individuals that Ida crossed paths with. Overall, Idea B Wells is a really cool woman and it was interesting to read about a sort of looming historical figure through the eyes of her descendant.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Slavery, Sexual harassment, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Police brutality, Racism, Hate crime, and Rape
Moderate: Classism
zombiezami's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
A wonderfully approachable biography with beautiful illustrations.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, Sexism, Hate crime, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Rape, Death of parent, Child death, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Mass/school shootings, Classism, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: War and Slavery
Lynching
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