Because of our tumultuous end of the school year in May, there are books piled and hidden everywhere in the library! I was going through a cart and came across the graphic novel trilogy called March:
March: Book One was published in 2013. The second in the series came out in 2015, and the third in 2016. I remember the buzz when it was published, but because it seemed geared more for middle school on up, had not purchased them for my previous library. With the passing of the author Congressman John Lewis, the books have come to top of many to-read piles again. Lewis worked with his aide, Andrew Aydin, to write this memoir of his life as it is inextricably woven with the Civil Rights Movement, illustrated in fitting black-and-white framed graphic novel format by Nate Powell.
I read through books one and two this weekend. March: Book One opens with the day President Barack Obama was sworn into office; Lewis is talking about his humble beginnings as a sharecropper's son with inauguration attendees. The story continues to alternate between Lewis' involvement in and knowledge of major events in the fight for equality and the Civil Rights milestone of Obama taking office. Book One ends with the partial success of the sit-ins, with emphasis on "partial"; Book Two opens to show us that written law can't eradicate hate--a lesson we know all too well as illustrated by present day events. The path of the movement also becomes more complicated in the second book, reminding us that while people may share goals, they may often disagree on the means to achieve them.
I would recommend March: Book One for fifth grade on up; if a younger reader wants to continue through the series, I would recommend doing so with adult support to talk about the violence, hatred, and politics in the history of the Civil Rights Movement. It is certainly, and unfortunately, a timely series.
It's the last Monday before school starts, and I'm reading nonfiction graphic novels. How are you wrapping up your summer reading?
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