nerd teacher [books] reviewed Counting on Katherine by Helaine Becker
Not Bad, but It's Boring
3 stars
It seems like a lot of kids' biographies often get this treatment of being a bit too dull. They're styled as stories, but they're written in the same structure as if the author is adapting the Wikipedia article. The only difference is that, instead of a webpage, we get to have the entries spread across thirty-something pages of (generally lovely) illustrations. As such, it doesn't really provide a narrative for the person. They also seem to think you have to include as much time in the story as possible, rather than focusing on single events.
The text itself really doesn't have much interaction between the characters. They don't really highlight the relationships between Katherine Johnson and those around her. It's very much, with the exception of her father working so hard that they could move to a neighbourhood with a high school for Black kids, everything is presented as if …
It seems like a lot of kids' biographies often get this treatment of being a bit too dull. They're styled as stories, but they're written in the same structure as if the author is adapting the Wikipedia article. The only difference is that, instead of a webpage, we get to have the entries spread across thirty-something pages of (generally lovely) illustrations. As such, it doesn't really provide a narrative for the person. They also seem to think you have to include as much time in the story as possible, rather than focusing on single events.
The text itself really doesn't have much interaction between the characters. They don't really highlight the relationships between Katherine Johnson and those around her. It's very much, with the exception of her father working so hard that they could move to a neighbourhood with a high school for Black kids, everything is presented as if Katherine was the only person who put in the work or effort.
But I doubt she was. And again, I hate these narratives always focusing on individual achievement rather than showing how people build upon the support of others. That is a lesson we're sorely missing in English-language books, especially those coming out of the US.