A poignant and powerful portrayal of the life and work of an unsung civil rights activist.
Diane Nash led thousands and helped to pass the Voting Rights Act.
Born in 1938, emerald green–eyed and well-loved Nash learned from her mother, father, and grandmother to value unity over division and expect equal treatment, regardless of locale or circumstance. When Nash moved from Chicago’s South Side to her grandmother’s home in segregated Tennessee, she realized that if she wanted equality, she had to fight for it. Peacefully. She learned to combat racism through sit-ins and marches and by confronting politicians who would dismiss her if they could. The second-person narrator speaks directly to Nash, reciting in lyrical, sometimes rhyming prose how she systematically fought for African American freedoms and rights throughout her life. This picture-book biography illustrates how Black women of the civil rights movement, like Nash, who had just as much impact as men like Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis, have received much less attention than they deserve. Collier’s moving, stylized, recognizable watercolor and collage illustrations capture the love that surrounds Nash that strengthens her resolve to show her love to the next generation, including her own unborn child, steadfastly pursuing social conditions that would build a better future. Wallace’s text lends buoyancy to the narrative, making it a memorable read-aloud. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A poignant and powerful portrayal of the life and work of an unsung civil rights activist. (author’s and illustrator’s notes, timeline, video interviews, further reading, quote sources, bibliography, historical photographs) (Picture-book biography. 7-11)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-5344-5103-2
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
Quick and slick, but ably makes its case.
The distinguished jurist stands tall as a role model.
Not literally tall, of course—not only was she actually tiny but, as with all the other bobbleheaded caricatures in the “Ordinary People Change the World” series, Ginsburg, sporting huge eyeglasses on an outsize head over black judicial robes even in childhood, remains a doll-like figure in all of Eliopoulos’ cartoon scenes. It’s in the frank acknowledgment of the sexism and antisemitism she resolutely overcame as she went from reading about “real female heroes” to becoming one—and also the clear statement of how she so brilliantly applied the principle of “tikkun olam” (“repairing the world”) in her career to the notion that women and men should have the same legal rights—that her stature comes clear. For all the brevity of his profile, Meltzer spares some attention for her private life, too (“This is Marty. He loved me, and he loved my brains. So I married him!”). Other judicial activists of the past and present, all identified and including the current crop of female Supreme Court justices, line up with a diversely hued and abled group of younger followers to pay tribute in final scenes. “Fight for the things you care about,” as a typically savvy final quote has it, “but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.”
Quick and slick, but ably makes its case. (timeline, photos, source list, further reading) (Picture-book biography. 7-9)Pub Date: Jan. 9, 2024
ISBN: 9780593533338
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Rocky Pond Books/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2023
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