Indelible.
African-American artist and arts activist Andrews was an outsider by birth and politics but not an outsider, or self-taught artist.
Driven by an early passion for drawing and a desperate Depression-era childhood in Plainview, Georgia, Andrews attended college on a 4-H scholarship, served in the Air Force and earned a BFA from the prestigious Art Institute of Chicago. A black man on the GI Bill, Andrews had never even visited a museum until he went to art school. His paintings celebrated narrative; he painted the geography and the lives of black folks in the Jim Crow South and the striving, struggling inner cities of the North. Author Benson, her late husband, Jim Haskins, and Andrews (who died in 2006) collaborated on several projects celebrating African-American history and achievement, including John Lewis in the Lead (2006); her passion for her subject shines clearly in the text, brief though it is. She introduces readers to young Benny, who grows up surrounded by cotton fields, finds inspiration in the church and continues with his education even as his classmates drop out to work cotton full-time. She closes with his activism on behalf of “outsider” artists: “He believed that art was for everyone.” This singular biography refocuses attention on the struggle for social justice through the extraordinary visions of this singular painter—every illustration is the artist’s own.
Indelible. (Picture book/biography. 4-8)Pub Date: Jan. 6, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-10487-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
PERSPECTIVES
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.”
Bewitched by the rhythms of jazz all around her in Depression-era Kansas City, little Melba Doretta Liston longs to make music in this fictional account of a little-known jazz great.
Picking up the trombone at 7, the little girl teaches herself to play with the support of her Grandpa John and Momma Lucille, performing on the radio at 8 and touring as a pro at just 17. Both text and illustrations make it clear that it’s not all easy for Melba; “The Best Service for WHITES ONLY” reads a sign in a hotel window as the narrative describes a bigotry-plagued tour in the South with Billie Holiday. But joy carries the day, and the story ends on a high note, with Melba “dazzling audiences and making headlines” around the world. Russell-Brown’s debut text has an innate musicality, mixing judicious use of onomatopoeia with often sonorous prose. Morrison’s sinuous, exaggerated lines are the perfect match for Melba’s story; she puts her entire body into her playing, the exaggerated arch of her back and thrust of her shoulders mirroring the curves of her instrument. In one thrilling spread, the evening gown–clad instrumentalist stands over the male musicians, her slide crossing the gutter while the back bow disappears off the page to the left. An impressive discography complements a two-page afterword and a thorough bibliography.
Readers will agree that “Melba Doretta Liston was something special.” (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: July 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60060-898-8
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Lee & Low Books
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A resplendent masterpiece.
Based on her experience of leaving Mexico for the United States, Morales’ latest offers an immigrant’s tale steeped in hope, dreams, and love.
This story begins with a union between mother and son, with arms outstretched in the midst of a new beginning. Soon after, mother and son step on a bridge, expansive “like the universe,” to cross to the other side, to become immigrants. An ethereal city appears, enfolded in fog. The brown-skinned woman and her child walk through this strange new land, unwilling to speak, unaccustomed to “words unlike those of our ancestors.” But soon their journey takes them to the most marvelous of places: the library. In a series of stunning double-page spreads, Morales fully captures the sheer bliss of discovery as their imaginations take flight. The vibrant, surreal mixed-media artwork, including Mexican fabric, metal sheets, “the comal where I grill my quesadillas,” childhood drawings, and leaves and plants, represents a spectacular culmination of the author’s work thus far. Presented in both English and Spanish editions (the latter in Teresa Mlawer’s translation), equal in evocative language, the text moves with purpose. No word is unnecessary, each a deliberate steppingstone onto the next. Details in the art provide cultural markers specific to the U.S., but the story ultimately belongs to one immigrant mother and her son. Thanks to books and stories (some of her favorites are appended), the pair find their voices as “soñadores of the world.”
A resplendent masterpiece. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-8234-4055-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Neal Porter/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: July 31, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
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