Kamala Raised Her Hand

September 23, 2024
Mirchandani and Kelkar (My Diwali Light) reunite in this cursory biography of Kamala Harris (b. 1964), the first “Black, South Asian woman to run for president and the first to be vice president.” Opening with the idea that “raising your hand is brave. Raising your hand is service. Raising your hand is showing... that your voice is power,” the creators highlight key episodes, from childhood onward, in which Harris raised hers. Tracing the figure’s political awakening and career milestones, brief, anecdotal lines recount how Harris raised her hand when standing up to a friend’s bully in kindergarten, protesting myriad issues as a Howard University student, and working “so all people could get married” as a lawyer in the California district attorney’s office. Without delving much into biographical detail, the quick-moving text neatly wraps up with a nod to present-day events: “When America needed a president—and Americans needed hope—Kamala did what she does best. She raised her hand.” Incorporating images of the lotus flower that hint at the meaning of Kamala, mixed-media collages lean on a palette of red, white, and blue in re-creating familiar images of the figure throughout this talking-points-esque overview. Creators’ notes conclude. Ages 4–8.

October 1, 2024
A rapturous tribute to the "first Black American, first woman, and first South Asian American vice president in American history." Mirchandani confines this celebratory biographical sketch largely to a set of highlight-reel glimpses of times when Kamala Harris figuratively raised her hand, an act that the author defines expansively as "showing everyone--and yourself--that your voice is power. And that you are powerful." So, having learned about the gesture on Civil Rights marches with her parents, she "stood up" to a bully in kindergarten (though precisely what this entailed is never made clear), wrote anti-war letters to President Nixon, organized a children's protest when she was 12, and went on to law school. Later, she stood for various political offices, including, as a tacked-on finale notes, "when America needed a president--and Americans needed hope," in the summer of 2024. In textured cloth and cut-paper collage scenes, Kelkar shows Harris raising her hand as a child, in court, on the campaign trail, and while taking an oath of office; a final scene shows her waving to a silhouetted crowd that's waving back. "You aren't just the future," the author writes, addressing readers in a personal afterword; "you are the present, too." She closes with a photo of her own young daughter, hand raised, dressed in a "Kamala" shirt. High on inspirational language, somewhat vague on specific facts; still, demand will be brisk. (author's and illustrator's notes)(Picture-book biography. 6-8)

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