triscuit807's review against another edition
5.0
5 stars. It's amazing how much a children's book can inform you of how little you know about the world and history. That was one of my thoughts when I read the author's first Honor book "A Daughter of the Seine" about Madame Roland, one of the early supporters of the French Revolution. I had never heard of her. I had heard of Mohandas Gandhi, but really did I know much about him? I knew the bare basics: an Indian who was devoted to passive resistance, who would fast and march when he felt it warranted, a person who wanted to dismantle the caste system. But of course, there's much more. At one point I may have known that he really got his start advocating for Indian rights in South Africa before and after the Boer War of 1898 (I doubt it though). Prior to reading this book I had a vague feeling that he wanted all of India's peoples and religions to work together; it was devastating to read about his reaction to Partition. Most of this fictionalized biography is devoted to his time in South Africa and his work around India from 1900 to WWII so that the events at the end of his life were presented very much as a rush. As Americans we're more familiar with Martin Luther King and even Nelson Mandela. It mustn't be forgotten that Gandhi was their teacher. This should be a must read for everyone, but sadly it's out of print. I read this for my 2020 Reading Challenge (52 Wks "set in country you've never visited") and my Newbery Challenge (Honor 1951). I read this via the Emergency Internet Archive set up during the Covid-19 pandemic.
scaifea's review against another edition
4.0
A biography of the Indian peace-seeker for kids. A bit over-simplified in places, which is likely a symptom of its age, but good overall.
More...