biography today

Here is my second biography for today. I do not know why I decided to read this one on the heels of SPARKY (see previous post) but it somehow worked out well. CESAR CHAVEZ: A PHOTOGRAPHIC ESSAY (Cinco Puntos 2010) is a slim bio filled with crisp black and white photos of Chavez and his work on behalf of those who toiled (and continue) to work in the fields harvesting fruits and vegetables. One of the things I must like in bios for younger readers is that we meet the subject as a child and a teen and get to know him or her as a human first and a leader second. I know this is a book that will appeal for a variety of reasons: spare text, lots of white space, many photos. However, it is the use of quotes, some lengthy, from Chavez himself which will also hold readers' attention as they begin to understand his non-violent protest movement and how it helped raise awareness of the plight of the migrant farm worker.

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