BOOK REVIEW: MARCH (book one) by John Lewis

MARCH (Book I)
John Lewis
Top Shelf Productions
Ages 10 and up

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.

MY REVIEW:

Powerful! A must read for all ages. I'll be handing MARCH to my kids to read. MARCH brings to life the lunch counter sit-ins of 1960 that impacted the budding civil rights movement. This is an important story to share with today's children. They should understand the sacrifices that were made to achieve the world we have today.

I will say kids will likely need more than just this book to understand the complexities of racism and the political and social climate of that era. This book is a good place to start a discussion. I loved the straight forward text, and the graphics were amazing. Can't wait to read books 2 and 3.