Friday, June 19, 2020

Cindy Copeland's Graphic-Novel Memoir 'Cub' Celebrates Journalism

I grew up reading newspapers at the breakfast table each morning, starting on the funny pages and gradually working my way into the news sections. When I reached high school, I knew that my natural nosiness about other people, knack for eavesdropping, and love of language and wordplay were a good combination for working on the school newspaper. On to college to study journalism formally, and then work at national newspapers. I absolutely loved walking into the newsroom every day, and I can't read enough about Nellie Bly, Martha Gellhorn, Lee Miller, Margaret Bourke-White, and other female journalists.

When I stumbled onto Cub (Algonquin, 2020) by Cynthia L. Copeland, I fell hard! Race to the bookstore and pick this book up for the budding journalist in your life! Both funny and smart, Cub is Cindy's memoir in which she recalls being a 12-year-old reporter shadowing a local news reporter. Set in 1972-73, there’s so much here: Watergate, Vietnam, ERA, groovy fashions like bell bottoms. John Denver. How girls and women were treated at the dinner table and in the newsroom. As well as the shifting sands of friendships and the agony of first crushes.

A complete joy and a good prompt for discussing how far we've come and how far we still need to go.

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