Winnie Mandela: The Soul of South Africa (Women of Our Time) - Hardcover

Grade 4-8 Meltzer used Mandela's autobiography, Part of My Soul Went with Him (Norton, 1985) and other written materials as sources for this biography in which he hoped to give readers a "sense of what this magnificent woman is like." Unfortunately, he has been unable to transfer the passion and human strength of Winnie Mandela's autobiography to this book, in which facts primarily about her adult life in South Africa are presented without context. Elementary school children will lack the background to understand the facts about South African politics or to relate them to Mandela's behavior mentioned in this book. Mandela is presented primarily as a speaker of words and an occasional defier of political repression, not as a thinking, feeling human being who interacts with others. Since her personality is not developed in the biography, children will have difficulty identifying with her and understanding the reasons for her political behavior. Marchesi's black-and-white drawings are pale. This book adds neither empathy nor understanding to the image of Winnie Mandela that is presented by the American mass media.Nancy J. Schmidt, Indiana University, Bloomington, Ind.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.