{"id":24176,"date":"2014-03-08T22:38:40","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T03:38:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=24176"},"modified":"2014-03-08T22:41:07","modified_gmt":"2014-03-09T03:41:07","slug":"review-of-march-book-one-by-john-lewis-andrew-aydin-and-nate-powell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=24176","title":{"rendered":"Review of March, Book One, by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>March
\nBook One<\/p>\n

by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell<\/p>\n

Top Shelf Productions, 2013. 123 pages.
\nStarred Review
\n2014 Coretta Scott King Honor Book<\/p>\n

This is not a graphic novel, it\u2019s a graphic memoir, and all the contents are true. Congressman John Lewis tells about what it was like for him as a young man involved in the Civil Rights Movement. The comic book format combined with the personal remembrances give this book an immediacy that will stick with the reader.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a frame that\u2019s in place on the day of Barack Obama\u2019s inauguration. The congressman is telling two kids visiting his office what it was like when he was their age. And then he tells how he first heard about people speaking up for civil rights, and how he went to nonviolence training, participated in and organized sit-ins, and began the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.<\/p>\n

This is only Book One. There\u2019s a sort of prologue scene crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge during the March on Washington. We don\u2019t get that far in the story, though we do learn, right at the start, that of all the speakers that day, John Lewis is the only one who\u2019s still around.<\/p>\n

This graphic memoir makes history come alive in a dramatic way.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m reading it because it\u2019s the last contender I hadn\u2019t read for School Library Journal\u2019s Battle of the Books<\/a>, which starts next week. I\u2019m not surprised to find some powerful reading here. It fits in well with the other contenders.<\/p>\n

topshelfcomix.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/march_book_1.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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