Close-up on War: The Story of Pioneering Photojournalist Catherine Leroy in Vietnam

Cronk Farrell’s well-contextualized, quick-moving biography focuses on the innovative career of French photojournalist Catherine Leroy (1944–2006). When determined Leroy flew to Vietnam in 1966 at age 21, she barely knew how to use her new camera, but her work would only two years later win major awards and front-page coverage. Each chapter begins with a letter from Leroy to her parents back home, offering an intimate glimpse of the photographer’s personal observations and needs amid discussions of the war and of Leroy’s actions in Vietnam, which include proving herself again and again to male colleagues and the U.S. military, and risking injury while documenting air strikes. Includes a comprehensive author’s note, information on how cameras worked in the 1960s, a glossary, and a timeline. Ages 12–up. (Mar.)