Commemorate Black History Month 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. A true story from the Civil War offers insight into a little-known aspect of ­African American history. In 1861 ­Virginia, a man named George Scott, who had escaped enslavement, overhears how field hands had rowed to the nearby Fortress Monroe seeking refuge--and Union soldiers had not returned them to captivity. Scott joins the flow of people seeking freedom, known as "contrabands." At the fortress, he tells Major General Benjamin Franklin Butler that he knows the location of some ­Confederates, and Butler sends him on a reconnaissance mission. His bravery and heroism prompt Butler to seek freedom for Scott and the others, writing, "These contrabands had been property, but since they had been abandoned, they were now simply men, women, and children... These human beings must be given the free enjoyment of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Castrovilla's straightforward narrative style makes the events readily accessible to readers who are interested in this complex era of American history. Lewis's atmospheric watercolors convey themes of urgency and humanity. Comprehensive back matter includes additional information about contrabands, Butler, Scott, and Fort Monroe; archival photographs; and a bibliography.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by James Ransome. When, in 1959, the renowned jazz saxophonist Sonny Rollins takes a break from a successful career to hone his skills, he finds the perfect place to do so. Discouraged from practicing in his apartment because the neighbors complain about the noise, Sonny retreats to the ideal setting, NYC's Williamsburg Bridge, where he ascends the stairs and "strolls above / the sprawling / spider city / with / millions of lives / lights / movement and speed / lots of / sound / & / lots of / noise" to blow his horn as loudly as he pleases. Practicing there for two years, he engages in electrifying call-and-response improvisations with the sounds around him, "tugboats / blowing bass notes / back / and forth / Sonny answering / ­note-for-note / with / low moans / of his / own." Following the return to his career, he records an album titled The Bridge. Golio is known for his picture-book biographies about musicians (Carlos Santana, rev. 11/18; Dark Was the Night, rev. 8/20), and here his precise and expressive free verse is well paired with Ransome's (Overground Railroad, rev. 3/20; Northbound, rev. 1/21) evocative art. In beautiful watercolor and collage, Ransome splendidly captures both the vibrant spirit of the city and the luminous persona of the jazzman. Back matter includes information about Rollins's career and the Williamsburg Bridge as well as some of Rollins's own words.

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Nikkolas Smith. The book begins with a premise many African American families know well: a child gets an assignment at school that involves learning about her ancestry and culture, and she doesn't know how to find the answers that seem so readily available to her classmates of other ethnicities. "I do not know where I begin, what my story is," she narrates. When she goes home and tells her grandmother this, Grandma gathers all the family members to tell them about their past. In poem after poem, she relates the tale of the people who were brought to the Americas on the White Lion in 1619. She tells the story of who they were and how they lived when they were free. She describes their language, Kimbundu; their work; their knowledge; their love; their dance. She tells how they were stolen, how they suffered on the water, how "these many people / became one people, / a new people" on the ship, when they refused to die. Grandma tells of the sadness, the determination, faith, hope, and resistance that brought the people through centuries of struggle to the current day, where a legacy remains that leaves the schoolgirl with pride in her people and their contributions to building the United States of America. Written in lovely and loving verse, with dynamic, expressive, and expansive illustrations that convey the emotional journey of a resilient people, this book provides a moving, informative answer to an essential question.

Reviewer: Autumn Allen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Floyd Cooper. James Herman Banning, an African American living in Canton, Oklahoma, in the early 1900s, wanted to fly, especially after learning that the Wright Brothers had taken to the skies for sixteen and a half minutes in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in October 1905. At the Excelsior Library (the first Oklahoma library for Blacks), he read about how "flying machines" stayed aloft. In 1911, young James saw "birdman" Charles Walsh fly at the fair and climbed aboard his craft when no one was looking. After World War I began, Banning attended Iowa State for one year then opened an automobile repair business at age twenty-one, through which he met Lieutenant Raymond Fisher, a pilot, who taught James to fly. Despite racist discrimination and finances that limited his access to the best equipment, Banning, along with Black mechanic Thomas Cox Allen, became the first African American to fly the 3,300 miles from Los Angeles to New York, stopping in towns that would welcome Black aeronauts. Everyone who supported their journey signed the wing of their plane, the Eaglerock. Cooper's signature illustrations, highly textured oil-on-board, reveal Banning's passion for flight and his determination to spend as much time as possible in the air. The prominence of brown hues centers Black lives in this story, while equally impressive blues keep readers looking skyward. An entertaining, exquisitely illustrated biography of a Black aeronaut who should be as well known as the Wright Brothers. An author's note, quotation sources, newspaper articles by Banning, interviews, documents, and further reading are appended.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. American Beach in northeast Florida is now a protected part of the National Park Service, but it began as a private beach bought by African American millionaire Abraham Lincoln Lewis in 1935 to allow Black people a respite from segregated beaches (where "there was even a rope in the ocean" to keep the races separate). It was a childhood haven for future opera singer (and Lewis's great-granddaughter) MaVynee Betsch, who found a second career in saving the beach, which fell into neglect after civil rights gains had made it redundant. Author and illustrator work in exceptional harmony here to bring MaVynee and the beach to life, with Holmes depicting in acrylic and collage the beauty of the "ocean paradise where [­Lewis's] family and other black people could swim, picnic, and build sandcastles." Even later, when MaVynee returns to the now-abandoned beach, nursing her own depression, Holmes finds beauty in the sadness, using the long horizontals of the spreads to glorious and poignant effect. Author and illustrator notes along with sources provide and point to further information about MaVynee Betsch.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by R. Gregory Christie. Rockliff and Christie focus their story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott on a little-heralded--yet integral--member of the movement, culinary whiz Georgia Gilmore (1920–1990). Once the boycott began, Gilmore and her "Club from Nowhere" (so dubbed to help members avoid retaliatory action) sold baked goods and donated their earnings to the cause. Although Gilmore did, in fact, lose her job after testifying at Dr. King's trial following his arrest for organizing the boycott, she was able to succeed when he encouraged her to start her own catering business. Gilmore's home became a place for members of the movement to gather not just to eat good food but to hash out matters relevant to the boycott. Rockliff repeats certain phrases to great effect ("Summer heated up... The boycotters trudged on. Fall passed... The boycotters plodded on") and nods to Gilmore's mouthwatering menu offerings ("The empty buses made city officials hotter than Georgia's collard greens with pepper sauce"). Christie's vivid, painterly illustrations bring the 1950s setting to life and show Gilmore's importance to the cause; she is pictured in nearly every spread, cooking, baking, bringing money to a boycott strategy meeting, and more. Appended with an "After the Boycott" page, which focuses on Gilmore's later life; an author's note on sources; and a source list. Pair with Romito and Freeman's Pies from Nowhere (rev. 11/18).

Reviewer: Sam Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Raissa Figueroa. Dovey Johnson Roundtree (1914–2018) would grow up to be a civil rights warrior; this picture-book biography focuses on a pivotal moment in her childhood. One pre-dawn summer morning in North Carolina, her grandmother takes her blackberry picking, joined quietly by other women from their community. Intimidated by the dark, Dovey gains courage from Grandma Rachel, who tells her she need not fear it. "If you wait a little, your eyes will learn to see, and you can find your way." Awash in blues and purples and then pinks, reds, and golds as the sun rises, Figueroa's stunning illustrations, many of which depict a view from above the woodland scenes, illuminate the landscape, the diligent work of the women, and the lessons Dovey learns from her loving grandmother, which feed her tenacity and determination as an adult. Several pages of back matter, which include family photographs, detail the remarkable life of this unsung hero, who graduated from Spelman College, served in the Women's Army Corps, earned a degree from Howard ­University Law School, and fought diligently for civil rights throughout her long career and life. An author's note by McCabe explains that the book was "adapted from the final chapter of the autobiography Dovey and I wrote together." Inspiring and exquisitely illustrated, this well-researched true story will spark conversations that prompt young readers to learn more about Roundtree.

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(2) K-3 Born into slavery, Elizabeth Keckly (sometimes spelled Keckley) followed in her mother's footsteps as a seamstress and dressmaker, eventually earning the twelve hundred dollars she needed to buy her and her son's freedom. One the eve of the Civil War she moved from St. Louis to Washington, where her work caught the attention of the wives of leaders on both sides of the growing conflict--Varina Davis, wife of Jefferson Davis; Mary Anna Custis Lee, wife of Robert E. Lee; and Mary Todd Lincoln. When Keckly's party dress for Mrs. Lincoln was a success, she was commissioned to make at least fifteen more over the next couple of years. Schofield-Morrison's (I Got the Christmas Spirit, rev. 11/18) text effectively combines a third-person narrative with italicized, unflinching first-person quotations drawn from Keckly's memoir, Behind the Scenes, or, Thirty Years a Slave, and Four Years in the White House. The refrain "stitch by stitch" runs throughout the text, a thread complemented by Zunon's (I Am Farmer, rev. 1/19; Off to See the Sea, rev. 1/21) illustrations using a variety of media, including fabric, lace, ribbon, and appliqué. A handsome introduction to a remarkable woman and her craft. An author's note and a bibliography are appended.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Tate's latest picture-book biography (Swish!, rev. 11/20; William Still and His Freedom Stories, rev. 1/21) focuses on artist and professional football player Ernie Barnes (1938–2009). The opening pages describe Barnes's childhood struggle to find his place in "the Bottoms, a neighborhood of hardworking but poor African Americans" in Durham, North Carolina. A quiet, unathletic child, Ernie enjoys drawing and paging through art books at the house where his mother is employed as a cleaner. In an attempt to find social acceptance, he joins his school's football team; after a coach introduces him to bodybuilding, he begins to achieve athletic success. From there, the two parallel tracks of his life--visual art and football--continue until his late twenties, when he quits football for good and pours his energy into art, leading to international renown. Tate incorporates words from Barnes's memoir, From Pads to Palettes, into the story, grounding it in the artist's own memories and voice. At the same time, he makes the deliberate choice not to mimic Barnes's artistic style in the illustrations. (An afterword directs readers to Barnes's website and other sources, in order to "enjoy the true artwork of Ernie Barnes in its full glory.") It is impossible to tell the story of a Black American artist born in the 1930s without discussing segregation and racism, and Tate weaves those threads seamlessly into his narrative, drawing particular attention to the moment when Barnes exhibits his work at the North Carolina Museum of Art, a place where he had once been told by a docent that "your people don't express themselves this way." A comprehensive bibliography is appended.

Reviewer: K Rachael Stein | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Christian Robinson. Pianist, singer, and composer Nina ­Simone was born Eunice Waymon in rural North Carolina in 1933, a child "who had music on the inside." Treated by turns as a prodigy, curiosity, and nuisance, after high school Eunice left North Carolina for NYC and Juilliard. After a series of indignities and disappointments, she began performing at a nightclub in Atlantic City; her growing fame led Eunice to change her name to Nina Simone in an attempt to hide her "unholy" music from her mother. At the same time, the momentum of the ongoing civil rights movement was a "relentless, demanding" drumbeat that proved impossible to ignore; and as Simone felt more pressure (internal and external) to speak out against racism, she decided she was done playing nice, as politeness "had gotten her people nothing." Robinson (You Matter, rev. 9/20; Milo Imagines the World, rev. 3/21) punctuates this section with flame-like cut paper and sooty smudges symbolizing the "steady, rising roar" of injustice, culminating in a double-page spread showing Nina and her band playing against a fiery backdrop. Todd ends her unflinching narrative with a perfectly placed, direct-address line: "And when she sang of Black children--you lovely, precious dreams--her voice sounded like hope." This unexpected, yet needed, outpouring of love is the perfect end to a stunning book. An author's note "About Nina Simone" and a bibliography are appended.

Reviewer: Sam Bloom | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Charly Palmer. The 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery is well known, especially with the death in 2020 of leader John Lewis, which brought renewed ­attention to the historic event. Less known is the teachers' march, which happened six weeks before as part of the larger ­voting rights struggle in Selma. This book ­dramatizes how the teachers planned their protest, risking imprisonment and violence, leaving the classroom and taking to the streets, holding "their toothbrushes in the air, ready to go to jail for freedom." The lively text incorporates lots of dialogue (sources indicated in the back matter), making for dramatic reading, and in particular weaving in the narrative of fifteen-year-old Joyce Parrish and her mother. But the illustrations are the star here, with Palmer's beautifully lit acrylic-on-board paintings that are at times impressionistic or, as he writes in the illustrator's note, "abstract and primal." He effectively plays with perspective--an upward view of Brown Chapel, following the spires to the sky, and a double-page spread showing legs and feet with polished shoes marching down the street. The selected bibliography mainly includes adult books, but many excellent books for young people are available, including Partridge's Marching for Freedom (rev. 11/09), Lewis's March: Book Three (rev. 9/16), and Freedman's Because They Marched (rev. 9/14). A strong addition to the literature on a pivotal event in civil rights history.

Reviewer: Dean Schneider | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Jacqueline Alcántara. "In a town called Eatonville...lived a girl who was attracted to tales like mosquitos to skin." So begins the evocatively descriptive account of the life of acclaimed storyteller Zora Neale Hurston. Young Zora spent the favorite parts of her day at Joe Clarke's general store, where she would listen to her elders tell fantastical tales of "how that trickster Brer Rabbit always got the best of Brer Fox," the origin of "squinch owls," and more. She didn't mind passing them on, either; perched atop the gatepost that led to her house, Zora would relate those tales--and a few of her own--to any passerby who would listen. While some family members chastised her for "lying," Zora's mother encouraged her consistently to "jump at de sun. You might not land on de sun, but at least you'd get off de ground." These "jumps" carried Zora to Howard University, then on to Harlem (and its burgeoning Renaissance), and right back down to Eatonville, where she continued to do what she did best--trade, tell, and write down stories. Rich with down-home vernacular, the text immerses readers in the Southern tradition of oral storytelling. The illustrations prove just as dynamic, with vibrant spreads bursting with brilliant-toned hues and enjoyable details to notice (e.g., the fashionable hats famously worn by Hurston--modeled by anthropomorphic animals). Snippets of folktales are paneled loosely alongside the biographical story; Brer Rabbit and Brer Fox are no respecters of borders, with both making multiple appearances. Back matter includes an author's note, sources, and additional reading, for both "Youngins" and "Older Folk."

Reviewer: Eboni Njoku | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2021

(1) K-3 Illustrated by April Harrison. Williams (Genesis Begins Again, rev. 1/19; Jump at the Sun, rev. 3/21) and Harrison (What Is Given from the Heart, rev. 1/19; Nana Akua Goes to School, rev. 5/20) present a lively and appealing picture-book biography of our first Black Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005). The story focuses on her childhood propensity to ask questions, which evolved into a successful political career anchored by advocacy for the rights of poor and underrepresented people. The daughter of West Indian immigrant parents, Chisholm spent her youth in Brooklyn with her parents and in Barbados with her grandmother and cousins. Her schooling was important to her father, who inquired daily about what she had learned and told her to "study and make something of yourself." After college, where she joined a political science society, she worked in early childhood education. In her community, she attended meetings and asked questions related to the welfare of citizens, pushing for money for better schools, regular sanitation service, and better police protection. Dissatisfied with politicians' unkept promises, she formed a Democratic women's club that worked to address community issues and organize voter registration drives. After winning a seat in the New York Assembly, she introduced bills to help college students and domestic workers and to fund daycare centers. Three years later, Chisholm was elected to Congress, where she served for fifteen years. Harrison's expressive and engaging folk art–style illustrations, rendered in acrylic and mixed-media collage, are a worthy complement to Williams's admiring tone and spirited narrative, which makes the subject both relatable and inspiring for readers. An author's note offers additional information about Chisholm's life, including her 1972 presidential run. Pair with Chambers's Shirley Chisholm Is a Verb! and Russell-Brown and Velasquez's She Was the First! (rev. 11/20).

Reviewer: Pauletta Brown Bracy | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2021

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Tonya Engel. A message from the African ancestors to today's African American children. Narrated in the second person, this picture book tells African American youth an uplifting story about the many positive qualities passed down to them: "love, intellect, determination, courage, brilliance, strength, ingenuity, grace, and dignity." Countering the notion that African American history started with slavery, Williams opens with "Your story begins in Africa," and says that Africans, "the first people on the earth," lived in thriving societies, speaking many different languages, for thousands of years before slavery. The narrative progresses through their kidnapping and enslavement, their sharing music as a common language, the vital connection between literacy and freedom, and the contributions of so many who made America successful. Readers meet well-known and lesser-known historical figures, some named, others only pictured, giving young people opportunities to learn more about them all. Engel's (Rise, rev. 11/19) mixed-media illustrations, which include acrylic, collage, and printmaking on wood and paper, capture the historical settings well, while her inclusion of flowers and trees throughout symbolizes growth and the potential of the next generation. (She illustrates Africans boarding slave ships unchained and fully clothed in their cultures' colorful garb and jewelry--perhaps to downplay the trauma of the Middle Passage.) An inspirational story that instills hope and encourages today's African ­American children to consider what they will give to their own descendants. Pair with recent similarly themed titles The People Remember and The 1619 Project: Born on the Water (both rev. 11/21).

Reviewer: Michelle H. Martin | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Loveis Wise. Through art and words, with the framework of the seven principles of Kwanzaa, Zoboi (American Street, rev. 3/17; Black Enough, rev. 1/19) and Wise beautifully "sew together a tapestry of / their stories / one fine quilt / a blanket for the children / to keep them warm, protected, and safe." Each brightly colored spread tells of important moments and people in African American history. Author and illustrator first bring readers back to Africa and remind them that before there was Africa and African Americans, there were the Fulani, the Hausa, the Ashanti, and the Akan, who lived in Mali, Kongo, and Songhai. As they move along, readers are reminded of the Middle Passage, enslavement, the Civil War, and the Great Migration. Despite the hardships and struggles, the people remember their Kuumba (creativity), Imani (faith), Nia (purpose), Umoja (unity), Kujichagulia (self-determination), Ujima (collective work and responsibility), and Ujamaa (cooperative economics) to survive and thrive. Wise's sumptuous digital illustrations are reminiscent of the patches created by African American quilters to remind future generations of their past. The bright colors reflect the hope and optimism that African Americans have carried with them. Along with history, readers are introduced to the principles of Kwanzaa in an informative and heartfelt appended author's note and timeline.

Reviewer: Nicholl Denice Montgomery | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2021