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| Image: Top Shelf Productions |
To commemorate the passing of Congressman John Lewis over the weekend, Teen Tuesday features his graphic novel memoir trilogy - March Book One; March Book Two and March Book Three. March Book One begins as Congressman Lewis awakens from a dream reliving the march in Selma. He awakes to prepare to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama, then flashes back to his childhood as he relates his story to a pair of young brothers who come to visit. One of them notices that his office shelves were filled with chickens.
Former sixth grade students may remember a certain picture book biography that was popular in the picture book biography unit, Preaching to the Chickens. The congressman, who grew up on a farm his parents sharecropped, wanted to become a preacher and practiced preaching to the family's chickens as he cared for them.
He grew up in the segregated south and became inspired by the preaching of the Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. Eventually, he became part of MLK's inner circle and at age 23, was one of the youngest speakers at the 1963 March on Washington. All his life, he remained dedicated to raising "good trouble," by using non-violent confrontation as a means to end injustice.
Like the Congressman himself, this trilogy made history. March Book One was the first graphic novel to win a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award It was also named a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. In the fall of 2016 March Book Three was the first graphic novel to win a National Book Award. His acceptance speech is one of my favorites. Here's a link. In January of 2017, March Book Three garnered a Coretta Scott King Author award; the Robert F. Sibert Informational Literature Book Award, the Michael Printz Award and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. It then went on to win the Eisner Award as well as the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's literature. There's no room for all the medals on the cover!
Like the Congressman himself, this trilogy made history. March Book One was the first graphic novel to win a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award It was also named a Coretta Scott King Author Honor. In the fall of 2016 March Book Three was the first graphic novel to win a National Book Award. His acceptance speech is one of my favorites. Here's a link. In January of 2017, March Book Three garnered a Coretta Scott King Author award; the Robert F. Sibert Informational Literature Book Award, the Michael Printz Award and the YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction. It then went on to win the Eisner Award as well as the Walter Dean Myers Award for Outstanding Children's literature. There's no room for all the medals on the cover!
The congressman happened to be in the room when the Youth Media Awards were announced because the conference was in Atlanta that year. He had led the Atlanta Women's March on January 21 and spent a great deal of time in the convention center with tens of thousands adoring librarians. He was open and interested in everyone who stopped by to say hello and posed for pictures with grace.
I can't think of a better way to learn about the Civil Rights Movement than through these books. I woke up early on Saturday morning feeling a bit low. The first thing I saw when I picked up my phone was news of his death. My mood sank even lower. What a crushing loss. Rest easy, sir.
I can't think of a better way to learn about the Civil Rights Movement than through these books. I woke up early on Saturday morning feeling a bit low. The first thing I saw when I picked up my phone was news of his death. My mood sank even lower. What a crushing loss. Rest easy, sir.
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