Intertexts

1 7 7 R e v i e w s Martinez argues that Niggli creates abelievable sixteenth-century world while simultaneously creating strong women characters in that world. Nig¬ gli’s use of ayoung fictional character as the protagonist meant that the novel has been categorized as achildren’s book, acategorization Martinez laments: “[ ...] AMiracle for Mexico relates the making of one of Mexico’s most important cultural images. Had this novel been published in the 1980s, no publisher would have labeled it ‘juvenile literature’” (244). As Martinez explains, Niggli not only writes abook about acultural icon, but represents the strong caste system of the period she depicts. Niggli’s last play, Li£fhtnin£ from the East, deals with the struggle between Mexican Inde¬ pendence from Spanish troops which Martinez asserts is an ignored area of study in Texas. As Martinez explains in the last chapter, Niggli has left aunique contri¬ bution, one that should be studied and brought back to surface. This book isanexcellentsourceofpersonalinformation,academicachievementsand actual works from Josefina Niggli. The book will be of great interest to those interested in Chicana writers. The book is most usefol for bibliographical information on Niggli and asource for research into her work. Martfnez writes astrong bibliography on Niggli, whets our appetite for her work, and gathers critical opinions of her work in asingle book. Martinez’s strongest contribution is the gathering of critical bibliography on Niggli’s work. H i l d a S a l a z a r Texas Tech University Sito, Tom. Drawing The Line: The Untold Story Of The Animation Unions from Bosko to Bart Simpson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2006. xiv +425pp. As asurvey, Sito admits that this is merely the beginning of serious smdy of the history of the animation labor movement, but that isn’t the true purpose of this engrossing book. Readers prepared to peek behind the flickering screenwillgetmuchofwhattheydesirehere;thereareenoughtalesofsad¬ ness,frustrationanddespairtosatisfyanyone’ssenseofschadenfreude.The audience is clearly meant to be those who work or want to work in anima¬ tion. Drawing The Line reads as if Sito were sitting next to you, spinning tales until you look at your watch and realize it’s nearly morning. As in union struggles in other industries, abelief in the benevolence of the wealthy has been the psychological barrier to union organization in ani¬ mation. Aconcerted effort to paper over the history of unions in this country has made this situation worse. Tell someone that weekends off are arecent concession in the history of labor and they’ll think you’re crazy. An enter¬ taining, vital history of unions is still needed as long as half ofAmerica think 1 7 8 I N T E R T E X T S they can live under the outstretched hand of the top one percent of earners. It is easy to appreciate the animator’s skill. Try this: flip to the last page of this journal and draw asmall picture in the corner. Flip back apage, and draw it again, just abit differently. Keep going until you reach the table of contents. Make sure the action is fluid and interesting. Don’t forget to make it funny. Amazing will do in place of funny. That will make afew seconds of choppy animation. Professional animators work on different elements of the same scene, weaving their work together so that the animation looks as if it were drawn by one hand, as Sito puts it. The final product reflects the work of many people and incredible amounts of time and effort all focused on one goal, acartoon. It would be easy to think that something as simple union would be second nature to these people, but history has shown other¬ wise; animators have had ahard time acting on their working conditions as if theywereonehand.Iftheseclevertalentedpeoplecanteamupfor why not team up for better wages? This is an impassioned history with aclearly stated pro-union point of view. Sito sits next to you the whole time, personally trying to convince you to sign that union card, to fight for what you deserve. The constant refrain is “never forget.” Never forget how we got what we have; don’t lose sight of...