John Lewis was a young child who experienced the injustice of segregation, however, he was inspired by Martin Luther King Jr. After high school, he joined Dr. King and other civil rights leaders who believed in fighting against segregation. John Lewis had to face physical attacks during the protest in the 1960s. Black children could not go to the same school as white children. Black people had to sit in the back of public buses and give up their seats to whites. I learned that John Lewis believed in change because his parents even told him not to get in the way. Instead, John did not listen to his parents. John realized that segregation was keeping his family from having a better life. At some point, it made John so angry. I enjoyed this book because John Lewis has so much courage. He did not give up on black people. John Lewis was elected by both black and white citizens as a Representative. He was a Congressman from Georgia. Lastly, this book was very inspiring and well written. ( )

I had never heard about John Leeds before picking up this picture book. He was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King as a teenager and joined along side his fight for equality as a young adult. John Leeds became the leader of the Freedom Riders and, at 23, he was the youngest person to speak at the March on Washington. He worked on ending voter suppression in the black community and helped organize the Selma-Montgomery march. He was present at the March when the police began to brutally beat black men and women on the bridge. He was one of the men beat that day. It went on to become known as Bloody Sunday, an event I had never heard of before. John Leeds went on the become the first African American Representative elected to Congress for the state of Georgia. This story really helped open my eyes to some of the struggles and sacrifices Black people were willing to endure in the name of equality. ( )

I never knew about John Lewis until I read this book, and I thought his story was very moving and inspirational. However, the bios of Jim Haskins and Kathleen Benson only mention that they have published numerous books and won a variety of awards. I would have liked these bios to include some information about their publications and list a few of the titles that they won awards for. Also, the book is organized in chronological fashion. It begins with John Lewis' childhood and ends when it discusses his election to the United States House of Representatives. It also includes an outline of his life at the end of the text, which I thought added an extra element of realism to this title because it features pictures of John Lewis throughout his life. Moreover, the tone and style of this book almost mimics poetry even though it is non fiction. I thought the line breaks in between passages like the other marchers at the front of the group took blows too, Those behind/
them turned to go back, but there were so many people on the bridge it was/ hard to move almost mimicked the rhythm of a gospel song that sang about struggles of John Lewis and other Civil rights activists. Lastly, I thought that the dramatic folk art illustrations of Benny Andrews were very beautiful and captured the pain, struggle, and triumph of John Lewis and Civil Rights protesters through their colorful figures, lines, and strange ethereal mask like faces and figures. ( )

I didn't like this one very much. The story is good, and, obviously, it speaks to an important figure in the Civil Right movement. However, for a picture book, it's ugly. I have seen other work by artist Benny Andrews, and it has all been pretty fantastic. His work in this children's book, on the other hand, seems rushed and... mushy, perhaps... With a few exceptions, all of the illustrations seem unclear and unfinished. This observation likely has more to do with my personal taste, but this is my review. Add to this strange artwork the fact that all of the text is formatted in an uninteresting font with enough total negative space throughout the book to fit a small vehicle, and you have a recipe for a visually jarring experience. I have seldom disliked a book so much for purely visual reasons. The audience for this book is likely late elementary school, as it is so full of text (as opposed to being less wordy for a younger audience); so I wouldn't have a real reason to include it in my class library. I wouldn't be very likely to suggest it to another teacher, either, and I would probably suggest they find another book about John Lewis. ( )

John Lewis is a non-violent civil rights leader. He believed everyone should come together and be equal. He was inspired by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and they would become close friends fighting for the same cause. John was attacked, arrested, and threatened, but he never gave up. I would talk about this book with my future students to prove if you work hard and believe in something anything is possible. Also, for the children to know that change is not easy, but it can be achieved by anyone. ( )