Becoming RBG

October 25, 2019

Gr 6 Up-Levy once again turns to Ruth Bader Ginsburg, whom she profiled in the picture book I Dissent, this time writing a biography of the Supreme Court Justice for the middle and high school set. Juxtaposing Ginsburg's childhood as a Jew in 1930s America with the Nazi uprising in Europe and the proliferation of anti-Semitism, Levy demonstrates how Ginsburg's sense of justice was formed at an early age as young Ruth realized that bigotry can flourish anywhere, even in the United States. Inspiration from heroes such as Eleanor Roosevelt and Ruth's mother, Celia Bader, set Ginsburg on the path to greatness. At Harvard Law, where she was one of only nine female students, she rose to the top of her class, navigating sexism with the support of her unorthodox husband, Marty Ginsburg. Levy expertly makes Ginsburg's landmark court cases relevant to a middle and high school audience. Gardner's minimalist, three-color artwork echoes Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. At times, placement of text bubbles distracts from the flow of the narrative, cutting sentences in half and continuing them on another panel, but overall the illustrations are effective, and Gardner's depiction of Ginsburg is abstract enough that all readers will see themselves in her story. VERDICT Fans of graphic biographies such as Penelope Bagieu´s Brazen or John Lewis's March will appreciate this look at how the "Notorious RBG" came up.-Elise Martinez, Zion-Benton Public Library, IL

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 15, 2019
Grades 5-8 Beginning with Ruth Bader Ginsburg's birth, setting her life firmly in the context of the events of the day, and moving forward to her nomination as an associate justice of the Supreme Court, Levy, author of the picture-book biography I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark (2016) here expands on that earlier book to make more of Ginsburg's life and contributions accessible to younger readers. Though the book is text heavy and sometimes it's hard to track the word balloons, the information is never dry. The two-color artwork, primarily rendered in a deep, saturated purple-blue, does its job well, with the artist cleverly changing Ginsburg's hairstyle at each new stage in her life, making it easy for readers to keep track of where they are in the story. There is rich back matter, including several pages describing what has happened since the justice's nomination, a time line through February 2019, and quotation sources, making this book both interesting and useful for reports. Final art not seen.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)