Pope Francis: Spiritual Leader and Voice of the Poor

Gr 6–10—These biographies each begin with a pivotal event in the subject's life. After that, Jonas Salk and Pope Francis follow a traditional chronological biography framework, while Malala Yousafzai contains chapters on Pakistan, Islam, and the Taliban to give readers context. The authors don't hesitate to discuss controversies in the lives of the subjects; for example, Pope Francis includes information about Argentina's Dirty War and the Catholic Church's sex-abuse scandal. Each book ends with a time line and page of essential facts (a short overview of the subject's life useful to readers who don't need all the details of a full biography). The texts are broken up with color photos and sidebars featuring quotes and information on related people and issues (for example, the Catholic Church hierarchy). Sometimes the placement can be problematic; in Malala, the term "Pashtun" appears several pages before the sidebar that explains it. Unfortunately, the writing in these titles tends to read like reports; the subjects do not come to life.—Jackie Partch, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR