ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
THE ARTS
McAlister, Caroline

A Line Can Go Anywhere: The Brilliant, Resilient Life of Artist Ruth Asawa

40 pp. | Roaring Brook | February, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781250310378 $19.99 | Ebook ISBN 9781250416063 $11.99
(1) K-3 Illustrated by Jamie Green. This picture-book biography of Ruth Asawa (1926–2013) uses lines (straight, curved, wavy; physical and imaginary) as metaphors connecting the artist’s life experiences to the sculptures she created. Growing up in rural California, young Ruth attended Japanese school on Saturdays where she “traced arcs in the air with bamboo swords” and practiced calligraphy as “bold black lines stretched across white paper.” She straddles an invisible line that separates the Japanese food, customs, and language at home from those at school. When Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, that invisible line becomes a wall. Incarcerated with her family at the Rohwer Relocation Center in Arkansas, Ruth is eventually allowed to attend college but isn’t allowed to complete her student teaching because of her race; “her path would not be a straight line.” Later, Ruth travels to Mexico and is fascinated by the wire baskets used to carry eggs. Thinking back to the barbed wire at Rohwer, Ruth twists wire into sculpture, showing that “a line could go anywhere, be anything.” After marriage, Ruth refuses to choose between career and family, so she “zigged and zagged” and made art while raising six children. Like her life path, Ruth’s sculptures “curve and curl, with lines that overlap and intersect, connect and divide.” Green’s illustrations nicely complement the thoughtful and well-researched text; brilliant blues against brown backgrounds add visual contrast, highlighting important people and moments. An author’s note, a bibliography, and photos are appended.
Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2025

RELATED 

THE ARTS

The People's Painter
by Levinson, Cynthia
THE ARTS

Before They Were Artists
by Haidle, Elizabeth
THE ARTS

Breaking Waves
by Burleigh, Robert
THE ARTS

Fearless World Traveler
by Lawlor, Laurie
THE ARTS

The History of Western Art in Comics
by Augustin, Marion
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?