April 4, 2018 will mark 50 years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now’s a great time to pick up this amazing new book about the life and death of Dr. King: Martin Rising: Requiem for a King by Andrea David Pinkney, illustrated by Brian Pinkney (2018; 127 pages). (Check out the ebook here.)
Martin Rising is a beautiful book, both in the moving prose poems and in the emotional watercolor paintings, and it does justice to the life of such a beautiful person.We have this book shelved in the Teen section, but really it’s a book for just about anybody. The prose text starts with Martin as a child and then as a grown man with his own family in January 1968. Then it delves more in detail about events that happened in the last few months of Dr. King’s life. It talks about the sanitation workers’ strike in Memphis and Dr. King’s involvement with protests there.
Always, the evocative prose poems are accompanied by gorgeous and emotional watercolor art. I mean, look at these spreads!
I love the colors that Pinkney has chosen to depict the sudden spring snowstorm that prevented Dr. King from visiting Tennessee on March 22. And you can see the emotion in his face – he hated having to miss his engagement for something so important. It also portends things to come as we proceed into the uncertain future of Dr. King’s last days.
Here you see the Memphis protesters depicted holding signs that say “I AM A MAN” to protest the inhumane way that African Americans were treated at this time and during the sanitation worker incident that incited this protest.
This is a can’t-miss book of 2018, so I would really recommend that you take some time out of your weekend and check out this gorgeous book which pays homage to one of the most influential people of our country’s history. Share it with someone you care about.
— Abby Johnson, Collection Development Leader
