Publishers Weekly
The father and son team behind Jazz and other award-winning titles pays homage to the entire United States in a soul-searching, free-verse poem examining the people, ideals, and promise of America. The verse journeys along a rough historical chronology. "Before the ships came... My Lakota heart pounded the rhythms/ Of this sacred land." Following are dreams of and fights for freedom, and periods of unrest and abuse (slavery, Japanese internment), when "Like clumsy children we fell/ As we learned to run." Christopher Myers's evocative paintings often juxtapose different eras; a scene in which a firefighter turns his hose on a group of African-Americans melds into the Boston Tea Party. "We were willing to die/ to forge our dream," the accompanying verses begin. Like many passages, it has multiple interpretations. In opening, Walter Dean Myers writes, "No words here have been penned lightly, no flag waved mindlessly," and his introspective reflections offer proof. Closing notes explicate quotations that lace the pages and identify figures shown in the artwork. It's best appreciated by readers with some knowledge of American history, but few will be unmoved by this stirring and provocative collaboration. Ages 7–12. (May)
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Praise for Ida B. Wells: “Accessible to younger elementary audiences.
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Praise for Ida B. Wells: “Accessible to younger elementary audiences.
Washington Post
"We Are America pays tribute to the variety of America as well as to its promise—in Christopher Myers's words, 'the question mark of it.' The images and text are vibrant, featuring paintings that evoke the sweep of history, provocative poetry, and pertinent quotes. Walter Dean Myers finds beauty and valor in America's contradictions while acknowledging a less-than-perfect union."
New York Times Book Review
"This heart-on-its-sleeve collaboration between writer father and illustrator son mixes stirring verse with expressive panoramas that mix thematic events across time: African slaves, Chinese railroad laborers, and Detroit factory workers in one tableau. We Are America offers an inclusive, ublinkered variation of patriotism."
ALA Booklist
Praise for Ida B. Wells: “Masterful.
Washington Post
"We Are America pays tribute to the variety of America as well as to its promise—in Christopher Myers's words, 'the question mark of it.' The images and text are vibrant, featuring paintings that evoke the sweep of history, provocative poetry, and pertinent quotes. Walter Dean Myers finds beauty and valor in America's contradictions while acknowledging a less-than-perfect union."
Praise for Ida B. Wells: “Masterful.”
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School Library Journal
Gr 5–10—As Whitman turned to free verse to explore the character and complexity of America in the 19th century, so Walter Dean Myers employs it in the 21st. From the Lakota Indian watching his father "in the curl of legend" and the refugee whose freedom dream "lay just beyond the next wave" to the diverse assembly of famous figures depicted in concluding montages, the Myers grapple with the meaning of the country's founding principles. They pair big ideas with specific individuals (real or imagined) culled from a wide swath of peoples. The imagery is beautifully crafted, and the tone allows space for readers to draw conclusions; while acknowledging imperfections, Myers reserves judgment. Relevant quotes are interspersed, adding perspective and sometimes irony. Christopher Myers's paintings cross the gutter in earnest panoramic scenes that vary in effectiveness. There are graphic images (a wounded soldier) and aesthetically pleasing scenes, such as a woman carrying bricks on her head next to Chinese immigrants laying railroad track; the lines offer a pleasing contrast to the opposing curve of the adjacent steel overpass. Several of the compositions, however, try to do too much as they line up literal examples from the text's large time spans. A Guinean iron worker, surrounded by daylight, is next to a man reading and others praying inside a mosque. When Mae Jemison flies in on the opposite page against a starlit sky, it feels disjointed. Notes explain the back story and identify individual portraits. A thought-provoking and largely accomplished work for students of American history.—Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
Kirkus Reviews
The Myers team shares their heartfelt and stirring vision of an America flawed but filled with promises and dreams. Like weavers connecting warp and woof, father threads lofty words and son paints seamless pictures. Each double-page spread contains a brief poem and usually a quote from a relevant document or person. A mural rendered in pastels spans both pages. Homage is paid to young people; Native Americans; immigrants from Europe, Africa and Asia; laborers, protesters, soldiers and performers. "We were willing to die to forge our dream" writes Walter Dean Myers while Chris Myers paints snarling dogs attacking civil rights protesters and colonial patriots throwing tea into Boston Harbor. Juxtaposed with this are the opening line to the Constitution and King George's words granting independence. In another tableau, a slave shows his terribly scarred back, Indians lie dead at Wounded Knee and Japanese-American citizens stand behind barbed wire, but Americans learned to "light the darkness with the blazing torch that is the Constitution."Backmatter credits each quotation and identifies the people in each painting. The poetry and the paintings will be an excellent jumping-off point for discussions. Readers will take every opportunity to pause and reflect and trace their fingers along the glorious artwork. Stunning. (Picture book/poetry. 8 & up)
