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When Thunder Comes: Poems for Civil Rights Leaders
Author: John Parra
Illustrator: John Parra, R. Gregory Christie, Meilo So, Jim Burke, and Tonya Engel
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Language(s): English
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In moving verse,
Children’s Poet Laureate J. Patrick Lewis gives new voice to seventeen heroes
of civil rights. Exquisitely illustrated by five extraordinary artists, this
commanding collection of poems invites the reader to hear in each verse the
thunder that lies in every voice, no matter how small. Featuring civil rights
luminaries Coretta Scott King, Harvey Milk, Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela,
Sylvia Mendez, Aung San Suu Kyi, Mamie Carthan Till, Helen Zia, Josh Gibson,
Dennis James Banks, Mitsuye Endo, Ellison Onizuka, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad
Yunus, James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner.
From the Publisher
"An unusual introduction to groundbreaking activists and to the profound impact of individuals standing together."— Book Links, 2013 Lasting ConnectionsNew York Public Library 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing 2013
"Offers readers a profound understanding of both what it takes to stand up and what happens when we stand together." - Booklist, Starred Review
"Must-have literary treasure" - Reading Today
"Lewis's surprising and welcome integration of lesser-known individuals provides a holistic and enlightening look at an always pertinent topic." - Publishers Weekly , starred review
"Lewis isn't phoning this one in. These poems are straight up honest-to-god works of poetry." - Elizabeth Bird, A Fuse#8 Production, a School Library Journal Blog
"J. Patrick Lewis has done justice to this list of heroes-and make no mistake, these are heroes. " - The Book Aunt
"Inspirational" - Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up—Lewis once again stretches his own poetic boundaries with this moving and informative collection of poems that introduce 17 courageous leaders of civil rights causes in America, Bangladesh, Burma, India, and South Africa. Some of the names will be unfamiliar to teens, but their concerns should be clearly understood. A technically perfect Shakespearean sonnet prefaces the collection, promising to draw from the poet's "thin bag of verse" some "tales of thunder" … "For history was mute witness when such crimes/Discolored and discredited our times." The poems, written in various styles-rhymed couplets, free verse, quatrain, prose-evoke sadness, but never hopelessness; speak of bigotry and hatred replaced by acceptance and equality; and describe inhumane mistreatment that has resulted in positive change and wrongful punishment that has brought about freedom. To young Sylvia Mendez, every door at the public school "was locked with a secret combination of frowns," but she found the key. To Muhammad Yunus, a Bangladeshi banker who gave small loans to the country's poor, money for fishing gear allowed some beggars "to catch eel and carp-and profits." Other subjects include Harvey Milk, Coretta Scott King, Josh Gibson, Aung San Suu Kyi, and Nelson Mandela. A note about each person, with a resource, is appended. Five illustrators each contributed three of the full-page paintings that range from softly detailed portraits in lush oils to colorful caricatures, acrylic folk art, and bright watercolors contrasted with shadowy gray. This thoughtfully written, carefully and cleverly worded collection demonstrates Lewis's poetic versatility and his ability to capture the essence of each subject and situation.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Heights Public Library, OHKirkus Reviews
The Children's Poet Laureate salutes 15 men and women, including one child, who spoke out and acted for equality and liberty, several at the cost of their lives. The names are familiar: Mohandas Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Jackie Robinson, Harvey Milk, Josh Gibson, Aung San Suu Kyi. They are less well-known: Mitsuye Endo, Helen Zia, Sylvia Mendez, Dennis James Banks, Muhammad Yunus. They are wives or mothers: Coretta Scott King, Mamie Carthan Till. One is a child, Sylvia Mendez, who wanted to attend a whites-only school in California. Three died too young on a dark road in Mississippi: Michael Schwerner, Andrew Goodman and James Cheney. All receive a stirring page of rhymed verse accompanied by a single- or double-page spread painting created by one of five artists: Jim Burke, R. Gregory Christie, Tonya Engel, John Parra and Meilo So. So's bright colors against a white background speak of affirmation and pride for Kyi, Zia and Milk, while Burke's somber palette evokes the fear of the three civil rights workers and the "nightmare world" of Mandela's imprisonment. Parra decorates his pages with details from the lives of Mendez, Yunus and Endo. From political activists to an astronaut and from baseball legends to a typist in a World War II internment camp, they raised their voices and sometimes their fists. Somber and inspirational. (thumbnail sketches) (Poetry. 10-16)-
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