Saturday, September 23, 2017

March: Book One

March: Book One by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell
2013
Weight: 1 lb
Method of Disposal: Gave to my friend, Deanie


  

I recently visited my Alma Mater for a career/volunteer fair--representing the animal shelter I manage, but I quickly became distracted, leaving the table with two very capable non-alums and meandered down to the bookstore.  I had heard it would be closing soon, and I thought I might want to buy a t-shirt or something one last time.  As I looked around, I realized that what I really wanted was all those really great recommendations (once requirements) you get from college professors.

I started to look by class at the rows of reading lists.  I found classes I would want to take and then checked out the books necessary for that class.  I couldn't really justify spending the money, but I bought March.  Reading a graphic novel really appealed to me at the time and John Lewis had been popping up everywhere since the dreadful day President Trump was elected president.  I need some inspiration.  I did end up enjoying it, though I got to the end quickly and was pretty disappointed not to have book 2 on hand.

I learned something I never knew about John Lewis--chickens.  My heart broke to see that little boy, scared, stoic in the car driving through Tennessee, to see those young men and women beaten with the permission of the police, to think of the death threats.  I could only imagine being a young boy riding on an old bus watching the money of the white schools shine as he drifted further away to a hand-me-down school with old books--though clearly with a librarian who had a lot of heart.

It sounds like this book is being used in schools, and I hope it reaches people who might be less likely to read a long novel.  The drawings are great and the story is moving no matter how you tell it, though everyone did a good job.

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