Martin Luther King, Jr.: Great Civil Rights Leader (Graphic Biographies)
Part of the Graphic Library: Graphic Biographies series, this brief biography of Martin Luther King, Jr. focuses on his leadership in the civil rights movement. It is noteworthy that the author consulted with an associate professor in African American Studies from Berkeley in creating the narrative and used excerpts from King s own speeches in the dialogue. King s accomplishments are rightfully set within the context of larger community efforts by African Americans to gain access to equal services and rights. The graphic novel style of illustrations, accompanied by dialog balloons and brief narrative boxes, may well entice otherwise reluctant readers to learn more about King s life and the events surrounding the passage of the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts. Although there are other extraordinary pictorial works on King (e.g., Martin s Big Words), the graphic novel has unique appeal and growing legitimacy as a format for non-fiction material targeted to middle school readers. Additional utility is provided through two pages of supplemental information about his life and accomplishments, a short glossary, bibliographies of books and Websites, and an index. As well as being an accessible biography, this book could provide an appropriate supplemental text for social studies curriculum on desegregation and civil rights, African American history, or community action. --Childrens Literature Comprehensive Database, January 2007Martin Luther King Jr. grew up in Atlanta, Georgia. In those days, in the 1930s and 1940s, black people like him were not allowed the same freedoms that white people had. Segregation laws kept the two races apart and black people were treated as if they were inferior. Martin s parents did their best to equip their son to deal with these hardships and taught him to be proud of who and what he was. When he was a young man Martin went to college in the north for a few years and there he met people who treated him with respect and decency. When he went back home he decided that he was not going to accept the segregation laws without a fight, but he also decided that his fight would be a peaceful one. He would speak, protest, boycott, and march. He would not resort to violence and he would not sanction those who did. Through his work as a pastor, Martin was able to reach out to a lot of people and he was able to mobilize the community to protest against segregation. Using a graphic rich, comic strip style format, the author of this book brings the story of Martin Luther King to life. She helps her readers understand how hard it was to be a black person in the south and how much courage was needed to fight for civil rights. This is the perfect book for the young reader who likes to read books with lots of illustrations in them. Reluctant readers will discover that history can be both entertaining and interesting. --Through the Looking Glass Childrens Book Review, February 2007############################################################################################################################################################################################################################################################### --Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Review, November 2006