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Monday, February 23, 2015

Review: March

March Book One
Author: Congressman John Lewis
Genre: Non-Fiction Graphic Novel
Publisher:  Top Shelf Productions
Release Date: August 13, 2013
E-book: 120 pages
Source: Free from E-library
http://amzn.to/1ASHnBD

Book Description

Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper’s farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.
Now, to share his remarkable story with new generations, Lewis presents March, a graphic novel trilogy, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole).
March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis’ lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis’ personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.
Book One spans John Lewis’ youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall.
Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activists drew inspiration from the 1958 comic book "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story." Now, his own comics bring those days to life for a new audience, testifying to a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations.

Review

I saw this book reviewed on a few sites last year and I when I noticed it was available for download from the library I jumped on it before someone else got it.
This graphic novel is based in the present as two young boys are in Washington DC during President Obama's inauguration when they met Congressman John Lewis.  As he is preparing for the inauguration he tells them the story of how he first got involved with the civil rights movement. The novel then flashes back to the South during the civil rights movement.  
I really like this story. I have to sadly say that before reading this I was not familiar with the Congressman's past. I knew of him and that he was one of the pillars in the civil rights movement but I had no idea how he got involved or what he did.  Until now.  
I really enjoyed reading this in e-book form on my iPad because each frame could be enlarged and it made it much easier to read.  The print is kinda small.  
The illustrator did a great job as well. There was so much detail in each frame and the drawings of each person was unique that they each told a story from what they were wearing to the expressions on their face.  
There are books that I think should be required in schools and this is one.  Children in junior high would have a better understanding of the civil rights movement told in graphic novel form and with two kids in their age group involved in the story it would make it interesting for them.  
What a great book and a great idea with great artwork!  I am looking forward to the second book.

Reviews by Other Bloggers

Recommendations

I recommend this book to reader 14 years and older due to some violence and the use of the N-word.

Challenges

This book is number 4 in my New To Me Reading Challenge
This book is number 2 in my Diversity on the Shelf Reading Challenge
This book is number 5 in my Goodreads Reading Challenge

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