March 1, Book 1 Library Binding Author: Visit Amazon's Andrew Aydin Page | Language: English | ISBN:
0606324364 | Format: PDF
March 1, Book 1 Library Binding Description
From School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up–Beginning with a dream sequence that depicts the police crackdown on the 1965 Selma-Montgomery March, this memoir then cuts to Congressman John Lewis's preparations on the day of President Obama's inauguration. Lewis provides perspective on the occasion, explaining and describing his own religious and desegregationalist origins in Alabama, his early meeting with Dr. King, and his training as a nonviolent protester. The bulk of the narrative centers around the lunch counter sit-ins in 1959 and 1960 and ends on the hopeful note of a public statement by Nashville Mayor West. The narration feels very much like a fascinating firsthand anecdote and, despite a plethora of personal details and unfamiliar names, it never drags. Even with the contemporary perspective, the events never feel like a foregone conclusion, making the stakes significant and the work important. The narration particularly emphasizes the nonviolent aspect of the movement and the labor involved in maintaining that ideal. The artwork is full of lush blacks and liquid brushstrokes and features both small period details and vast, sweeping vistas that evoke both the reality of the setting and the importance of the events. This is superb visual storytelling that establishes a convincing, definitive record of a key eyewitness to significant social change, and that leaves readers demanding the second volume.–Benjamin Russell, Belmont High School, NHα(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* Congressman Lewis, with Michael D’Orso’s assistance, told his story most impressively in Walking with the Wind (1998). Fortunately, it’s such a good story—a sharecropper’s son rises to eminence by prosecuting the cause of his people—that it bears retelling, especially in this graphic novel by Lewis, his aide Aydin, and Powell, one of the finest American comics artists going. After a kicker set on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, on March 7, 1965 (the civil rights movement’s Bloody Sunday), the story makes January 20, 2009 (President Obama’s inauguration) a base of operations as it samples Lewis’ past via his reminiscences for two schoolboys and their mother, who’ve shown up early at his office on that milestone day for African Americans. This first of three volumes of Lewis’ story brings him from boyhood on the farm, where he doted over the chickens and dreamed of being a preacher, through high school to college, when he met nonviolent activists who showed him a means of undermining segregation—to begin with, at the department-store lunch counters of Nashville. Powell is at his dazzling best throughout, changing angle-of-regard from panel to panel while lighting each with appropriate drama. The kineticism of his art rivals that of the most exuberant DC and Marvel adventure comics—and in black-and-white only, yet! Books Two and Three may not surpass Book One, but what a grand work they’ll complete. --Ray Olson
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
See all Editorial Reviews
- Library Binding: 121 pages
- Publisher: Turtleback; Reprint edition (August 13, 2013)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0606324364
- ISBN-13: 978-0606324366
- Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.7 x 0.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Every so often a book will come along that will challenge you, that will make you think, and that will hopefully leave you a bit better after you've read it. And this is just one such book. Yes that seems weird to say about a graphic novel, but trust me...this one deserves such praise. This is a book that everyone should read, and then reread again. And then pass on to others to read. This is a part of history that we should not let die, remember, and honor those that created it.
Congressman John Lewis is an iconic figure within the Civil Rights movement, and the last surviving member of the "big six leadership." He rose from being the son of sharecropper, to marching with Martin Luther King, and to the halls of Congress. This first book in a planned trilogy covers John Lewis's youth in rural Alabama, his first meeting with Martin Luther King, the birth of the Nashville Student movement, and the battle for desegregation on the steps of City Hall. And it comes to an end all to quickly. I finished the book saying "but, but...I want more! I need the rest of the story now!" And that's such a great way to leave readers, clamoring for the next part of the story. It's a powerful and moving story to see a firsthand account of the triumphs and sorrows of being involved in this time period in history.
Now I'm sure the first question many are asking is...why a graphic novel? Couldn't this be done in written form and come out just as well. And the answer would be...no. It's one thing to read about the horrors or having water tossed on you, or being beaten, all because of the color of your skin. It's a completely different matter to see it illustrated.
"March: Book 1" is a story of United States Congressman John Lewis, the story about his childhood and his career begin. The book is illustrated by New York Times comic-book artist Nate Powell and it shows to the reader not only Lewis' life history and accomplishments but a portrait of the time when the struggle for civil rights was fiercest. Lewis was became known as a supporter of the Civil Rights Movement in the American south and the organizer of a peaceful march in Alabama back in 1965 that was suppressed by police applying brute force, also known as "Bloody Sunday".
"March: Book 1" starts with the beginning of march and then the story goes backwards, to his Alabama childhood that he spent on his family's farm in 1940s. The author manages to show with the positive outlook these troublesome times and taking into consideration that he was himself victim of struggle for human rights it is so beautiful. Although I'm not US citizen and my perspective about American social revolution for that reason is a bit different I can understand how important was John Lewis' role and still is.
Book is told in the style American South is usually imagined, full of dust, oppressed and poor, far from beautiful, but certainly realistic. Main character never complained about his or black people in general difficult life due to the racism, instead he is only committed to make changes peacefully, that is something that motivates him further. In the end this story is not sad but it will make you feel better when you see how things had changed because of Lewis and men like him.
"March: Book 1" is a book full of hope and strength regardless of the dark part of the history it pictures.
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