RESIST!

A global collective biography of 21 individuals, movements, and organizations exemplifying Margaret Mead’s truism that a small group of citizens can change the world.

Double-page profiles introduce various people who used nonviolent protest and resistance to bring about awareness and significant change to such issues as colonial oppression, gender equality, Indigenous rights, racial discrimination, and women’s suffrage. Individuals profiled include Woody Guthrie, Irene Sendler, the anonymous “Tank Man” of Tiananmen Square, Ryan White, and Greta Thunberg. Working thematically, Stanley also pairs Claudette Colvin and Rosa Parks for a paired profile and groups Filipino American labor activist Larry Itliong with Dolores Huerta and César Chavez, carefully noting that these high-profile individuals represent many. Organizations and movements include the Hollywood Ten, the “It Gets Better” Project, and March for Our Lives. The variety succeeds in introducing readers to a wide range of civil-disobedience and nonviolent-protest tactics, such as boycotts, legal challenges, marches, music, sit-ins, and walkouts. Opposite each single page of text is a textured illustration rendered in muted colors, using colored pencil and watercolor. Holding his walking stick, Gandhi appears against a route map for the Salt March. A youthful Ruth Bader Ginsburg rolls up her sleeve in a muscle-making pose, speaking the feminist slogan, “We Can Do It!” In an author’s note, Stanley emphasizes the youth of many of these activists and encourages readers to discover their passion.

Brief and thoughtful, this informative introduction to change-makers gives inspiration to future activists.