  | Full Text Reviews: Booklist - 09/15/2017 *Starred Review* Andrea Davis Pinkney’s breathtaking collection of “docu-poems” chronicles Dr. King’s final months and is divided into three sections: daylight, darkness, and dawn. Blending whimsy and wisdom, metaphor and reality, the powerful verses focus on the time King spent organizing the Memphis sanitation workers in their fight for decent working conditions. As the title declares, this book is a requiem for a man whose leadership is as conspicuously absent today as it was in the aftermath of April 4, 1968. King is portrayed in familiar ways: a loving family man and rousing speaker. But readers also see him in moments of frailty (weakened by fever, emotionally exhausted) and uninhibited boyishness (pillow fighting with Andrew Young and Ralph Abernathy). Brian Pinkney’s characteristic, swirling illustrations are sometimes so impressionistic as to be abstract, but never fail to convey the essence of the accompanying poems, from deep reverence for King, to solidarity with the sanitation workers, to the heat of a “peach-meat” Tennessee sun. Each poem trembles under the weight of the story it tells, juxtaposing moments of spring renewal, such as the blooming of forsythia, with the mistreatment of the workers. Some poems are abrupt, while others build in momentum like King’s own eloquence, blending his words seamlessly with Andrea Davis Pinkney’s. This packs an emotional wallop and, in perfect homage, soars when read aloud. - Copyright 2017 Booklist. School Library Journal - 01/01/2018 Gr 4 Up—A powerful celebration of Martin Luther King Jr., set against the last few months of his life and written in verse. Divided into three sections, ("Daylight," "Darkness," and "Dawn"), Andrea Davis Pinkney's poems focus on the winter and spring of 1968, from King's birthday on January 15 through the horror of his assassination on April 4 and end with a tribute to his legacy of hope on Easter Sunday, April 14. The poems begin broadly, painting a portrait of spring emerging in Memphis as garbage collectors fight against discriminatory wage policies, ultimately bringing King to that city to organize and uplift the movement. But as the last moments of King's life tick away, the narrative zooms in, detailing the emotional beats of his final public speeches, the feverish exhaustion of long days and nights away from home, and the relief of stolen moments of leisure with his closest friends. Throughout, the crowds filling churches seeking inspiration and bravely marching in the face of violence are as much a part of the story as King himself. Brian Pinkney's watercolor, gouache, and India ink illustrations convey warm moments of victory and joy, as well as the darkness and chaos of loss, through swirls of color. Impressionistic brush-stroke portraits of King alternate with spreads full of faces listening, marching, and mourning. Back matter includes author and artist reflections, a time line, and additional historical information with photographs. VERDICT Beautifully illustrated and begging to be read aloud, this poetry collection is an exceptional classroom tool for civil rights lessons and offers much for individual readers to linger over.—Chelsea Couillard-Smith, Hennepin County Library, MN - Copyright 2018 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Loading...
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