Tag: Who Was/What Was series

REVIEW: What Is the Story of Captain Picard? by David Stabler

REVIEW: What Is the Story of Captain Picard? by David Stabler

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

The Who HQ line of nonfiction books for kids adds the story of Jean Luc Picard to their line which also includes What Is the Story of Captain Kirk? This book includes some basic Trek history – from the timeline for TOS (The Original Series) to side bars about Rodenberry, Trek captains, and Picard’s hobbies – as well as background on the actor who plays Captain Picard, Sir Patrick Stewart. Then Picard’s story is told in highlights from key Next Generation (TNG) episodes.

Review

This is really well done! The author does a great job of synthesizing 7 seasons worth of TNG episodes to build a cohesive biography for Picard. A biography for a fictional character! Something not easy to pull off.

There’s no info dump here – nothing bogs the reader down. Tidbits of info are offered (with some spoilers) while the author moves quickly through highlights of Picard’s journey. (Although I did take issue with one instance where the author’s summary of the captain’s motives in a situation didn’t match the episode in my opinion). The book is current through initial planning and discussions of Picard season two.

I’m impressed by how deftly the author moves between reality – box office numbers, series actors, the larger Trek universe – and fiction with the life of Picard and to a lesser extent that of some of his friends. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this and highly recommend it for Star Trek fans and newbies alike.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!

REVIEW: What Is the Story of Captain Kirk? by M. D. Payne

REVIEW: What Is the Story of Captain Kirk? by M. D. Payne

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary and Review

This book tells the dual story of the creation of Star Trek, including the Original Series (TOS) show and movies, as well as telling the life story of main character, James T. Kirk.

This is a fun race through the highlights of a franchise with five decades of history. The book includes references to

  • the first pilot with Captain Pike
  • the movie plots of the 6 movies starring the original cast
  • descriptions of those main characters
  • a mention of the Animated Series
  • the series which followed TOS
  • the Kelvin timeline
  • some of the alien species.

As a Trek fan, this was a fun glimpse at a 50+ year phenomena. The focus stays on Kirk, so the famous Trek lore about Lucille Ball and MLK Jr. doesn’t get a mention.

There should be spoiler alerts throughout the book as the movie summaries especially are pretty revealing at times. I also felt like the publisher missed a HUGE opportunity by not including episode titles, even in footnotes or end notes, for any readers who wanted to dig deeper on something the book referenced.

Overall, this is a fun, high level look at James Kirk and the original Trek series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read

REVIEW: What Was Stonewall? by Nico Medina

REVIEW: What Was Stonewall? by Nico Medina

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

Stonewall was a gay bar in New York City in the late 1960s. It was also the site of a riot between gay patrons, protesters, and police when the bar was raided for violating the liquor license law. The police were really trying to deal with the mafia owners of the club, but the liquor license issues were a simple way of getting to them.

The riot at the Stonewall Inn on June 28, 1969 became a rallying point for the LGBTQ+ community and led to marches and changes to the nation’s laws. What Was Stonewall? covers a brief history of the gay community and the ways gay people and their allies have pursued social justice for the whole community.

Review

When I first saw the cover for this book earlier this year, I had to go searching for the title’s answer. I had never heard of Stonewall. By June of this year, the 50th anniversary, I was more familiar with the event. But I was still curious what information could be gleaned from this resource.

I enjoy this whole line of nonfiction books. They are relatively short (this is 107 pages with illustrations on each spread), and make for a good introduction for elementary and middle school readers on a vast number of subjects.

This covers the Stonewall riot pretty well. Only a handful of people are noted by name. Three chapters cover the uprising. The rest set the event in an historical context and talk about how the LGBTQ+ community continued to organize and pursue rights like employment security, the ability to serve in the military, and the right to marry. These are still timely topics today as the Supreme Court is hearing discrimination cases right now.

The language bounces from formal (defining terms, etc) to casual (“Heads were busted.”). And some topics are covered so quickly that it left me with a slight feeling of reading whiplash. I think this is a decent starting point for readers and adults interested in providing some LGBTQ history. But those longing for a meaty, nuanced discussion might find this lacking.

Rating: ♥♥♥½