Bookverdict.com

Gr 7 Up—Who better to give Martin Luther King, Jr.'s life story the full mythopoeic treatment than the renowned African American novelist and performance poet. Flowers's hyper-vernacular language, swinging rhythms, and conspiratorial first-person tone lend his words a vivacity that is nearly audible. He weaves the entire history of the enslavement of black Americans into King's story, refers to unspecified gods taking an interest in affairs, and comments on King's speeches with impressive insight. Brilliant and engaging, Flowers'...Log In or Sign Up to Read More

An innovative homage to Martin Luther King that mythologizes him even as it acknowledges his foibles, this book uses a cohesive design to blend African griot storytelling and folk art from India to create a bold graphic novel. There is a dual narrative here -- one more distinctly the voice of a storyteller ("Sit down why don't you. Rest a spell. I, my friend, have a story to tell"), the other providing commentary ("I suspect you've heard the Martin Luther King story as commonly told, but this is a telling replete with the Will of the...Log In or Sign Up to Read More