Black, White, Red, Brown, and Yellow: America's Growing Pains in Graphic Novels
Celebrate the Fourth of July with 14 Titles
By Martha Cornog, Philadelphia -- Library Journal, 6/23/2009 9:27:00 AM
We’ve had over 200 years of practice at making our country work, and you know what? We still have a long way to go. But the Fourth of July is a good time to revisit our triumphs and missteps, as well as celebrate all the diverse people who have learned—more or less—to live and work together in our part of North America.
These 14 graphic novels bring historical movers and shakers to life; illuminate documents and movements; and even imagine alternate Americas. Dip in and enjoy.
Doeden, Matt (text) & Cynthia Martin (illus.). George Washington: Leading a New Nation. 2007. ISBN 978-0-7368-4963-0.Olson, Kay Melchisedech (text) & Anna Maria Cool & Sam de la Rosa (illus.). Betsy Ross and the American Flag. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7368-4962-3.
Niz, Xavier (text) & Cynthia Martin & Brett Schoonover (illus.). The Story of the Statue of Liberty. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7368-5494-8.
Jacobson, Ryan (text) & Cynthia Martin & Terry Beatty (illus.). The Story of the Star-Spangled Banner. 2006. ISBN 978-0-7368-5493-1.
ea. vol: Capstone. 32p. bibliog. index. $26.60. HIST
These and a number of other Capstone titles provide a quick and fun way for ages ten and up to dive into the history of the United States. Some titles are available in Spanish, and all include back matter with extra facts about the subject and a list of internet links.
Hennessey, Jonathan (text) & Aaron McConnell (illus.). The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation. Hill & Wang: Farrar. 2008. 160p. ISBN 978-0-8090-9487-5. $35; ISBN 978-0-8090-9470-7. pap. $16.95. POL SCIWhen our nation’s founding document was drafted, there was plenty of dissent all around: the Founding Fathers disagreed with each other, and the 13 colonies disagreed with England and then amongst themselves. Thus the Constitution was designed to balance competing interests—states rights vs. federal power and, within the federal government, executive vs. legislative vs. judicial branches. Political history becomes surprisingly interesting when unpacked into easy-to-follow explanations enriched with stick-in-your mind visuals. Buy copies for tween, teen, and adult collections. (See LJ's original review.)
Crowley, Michael (text) & Dan Goldman (illus.). 08: A Graphic Diary of the Campaign Trail. Three Rivers: Crown. 2009. 160p. ISBN 978-0-307-40511-1. pap. $17.95. POL SCIThe right to vote has become a cornerstone of the U.S. political system, But was there ever a presidential campaign like that in 2008? With everybody dissing Bush, who would stand out in the chaotic pack of contenders? Here’s how the media reported it, with numerous talking heads but also memorable imagined images like McCain giving his Vietnamese captors the finger and Giuliani posed American Gothic–style with pitchfork plus three wives and his own drag persona. This recap of public moments—uplifting, informative, or embarrassing—makes an informative and useful read. Occasional salty language; for teens and up. (See LJ's original review.)
Butzer, C.M. Gettysburg: The Graphic Novel. Bowen: HarperCollins. 2009. 80p. maps. bibliog. ISBN 978-0-06-156175-7. pap. $9.99. HISTThis moving account sets the Battle of Gettysburg together with the Gettysburg Address into the broader contexts of the human costs of war and Lincoln’s place in helping heal the racial divide. A full 18 pages compellingly illuminate the full text of his Gettysburg Address. On one double-paged spread, three rows of citizens carry signs and demonstrate: first the abolitionists and suffragettes of the 1800s; then the union supporters and civil rights activists; and finally Native Americans, Latinos, farm workers, and gay rights marchers—“that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” A YALSA nominee, for tweens up. (See LJ's original review.)
Stavans, Ilan (text) & Lalo Alcaraz (illus.). Latino U.S.A.: A Cartoon History. Basic Bks: Perseus. 2000. 175p. index. ISBN 978-0-465-08221-6. $24.95. HISTRio Grande or Río Bravo? Same river, two views, two names. Here, several narrators and assorted sidekicks gallop through 500 years of cultural clashes from Columbus and later explorers to NAFTA, passing along the way the Spanish American War, Pancho Villa, Frida Kahlo, the Spanglish-language skirmishes, the zoot suit riots, West Side Story, Castro, and César Chávez. In sardonic, black-and-white art, with bibliographic notes. Teen and adult collections.
Laird, Roland Owen & Taneshia Nash Laird (text) & Elihu "Adofo" Bey (illus.). Still I Rise: A Graphic History of African Americans. rev. ed. Sterling. 2009. 220p. bibliog. ISBN 978-1-4027-6226-0. pap. $14.95. HIST
The story of African Americans in the United States from the year 1619 through the election of Barack Obama, told in some detail and with simple, black-and-white art. Charles Johnson’s introduction about the history of “Blacks in comics” enriches the presentation, as do the differing viewpoints of the two elderly narrators. Teens and up. (See LJ's original review of the first edition.)
McGruder, Aaron & Reginald Hudlin (text) & Kyle Baker (illus.). Birth of a Nation: A Comic Novel. Three Rivers: Crown. 2004. 144p. ISBN 978-1-4000-8316-9. pap. $14.95. FWith bucks and backing from the local shady billionaire, the activist black mayor of East St. Louis leads his people to secede from the United States after a massive electoral snafu leading to a Bush-like president. Naturally, Washington isn’t buying this upstart Republic of Blackland, and the internal problems facing the mayor don’t help either. Dead-on social satire from three of the biggest names in African American comics. Older teens and up.
Kiyama, Henry (Yoshitaka). The Four Immigrants Manga: A Japanese Experience in San Francisco, 1904–1924. Stone Bridge. 1999. 152p. tr. from Japanese by Frederik L. Schodt. ISBN 978-1-880656-33-4. pap. $14.95. HIST
In these semiautobiographical vignettes, four middle-class Japanese twentysomethings seek their fortune in San Francisco. But what have they gotten themselves into? Work as houseboys, an earthquake, World War I stateside culture, and Prohibition, too. The immigrant experience writ with charm and humor—and considerable poignant commentary. Good for curriculum support, teens and up.
Kawaguchi, Kaiji. Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President. Vol. 5. Viz Media. 2002. 600p. tr. from Japanese by Yuji Oniki. ISBN 978-1-59116-007-6. pap. $22. FAs we are sometimes forced to recognize, the glossy front of competent normality that politicians feed the media can hide a roiling soap opera of intrigue, betrayal, salacious adventure, and criminal activity; this fictional Machiavellian tangle thinly reworked over realistic events should surprise no one. The series follows a Japanese American senator as he runs for president of the United States and was thoroughly researched “on location” in the U.S. adult collections.
Thoreau, Henry David (text) & John Porcellino (illus.). Thoreau at Walden. Hyperion Bks. for Children. 2008. 112p. bibliog. ISBN 978-1-4231-0038-6. $16.99. LIT
One of the many unique thinkers whose ideas have coalesced into our national identity, Thoreau made his own declaration of independence through his two-year retreat at Walden Pond. His ideas resonate strongly today as we seek survival for our planet as well as for our nation and ourselves. Porcellino provides a simple recasting of Thoreau’s minimalist, environmentalist philosophy in spare but tranquil black-and-white art, with extensive endnotes. A YALSA “best book for YAs.” Ages ten and up.
Zinn, Howard (text) & Mike Konopacki (illus.). A People’s History of American Empire: A Graphic Adaptation. Metropolitan: Holt. 2008. 288p. bibliog. ISBN 978-1-4395-9869-6. $26; pap. ISBN 978-0-8050-8744-4. $17. POL SCIThe dark side of American independence glossed over in mainstream media—the ugly American empire that leaves tire treads all over cultures, countries, and dissenters. But Zinn ends on a hopeful note: “Human history is a history not only of cruelty but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness," and while imperialism persists, progress has come through bloodless revolutions and progressive approaches. Adapted from Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. Adult collections.
