What Unites Us: The Graphic Novel

by Dan Rather, Elliot Kirschner, Tim Foley (Illustrator)

Overview

In this graphic novel adaptation of his bestselling collection of essays, legendary news anchor Dan Rather provides a voice of reason and explores what it means to be a true patriot.

Brought to life in stunning color by artist Tim Foley, What Unites Us: The Graphic Novel takes apart the building blocks of this country, from the freedoms that define us, to the values that have transformed us, to the institutions that sustain us. Rather’s vast experience and his unique perspective as one of America's most renowned newscasters shed light on who we were and who we are today, allowing us to see a possible future, where we are one country; united.

This book is part of the World Citizen Comics series, a bold line of civics-focused graphic novels that equip readers to be engaged citizens and informed voters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250239945
Publisher:	First Second
Publication date:	03/09/2021
Series:	World Citizen Comics
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,126,864
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Dan Rather joined CBS News in 1962, and in 1981 he assumed the position of Anchor and Managing Editor of the CBS Evening News, which he held for twenty-four years. His reporting helped turn 60 Minutes into an institution, launched 48 Hours as a newsmagazine program, and shaped countless specials and documentaries. Upon leaving CBS, Rather created the Emmy Award-winning Dan Rather Reports on HDNet. He is the founder, president, and CEO of News and Guts, an independent production company that specializes in high-quality nonfiction content across a range of traditional and digital channels.

Elliot Kirschner is a New York Times bestselling author and Emmy award winning news producer and documentary filmmaker. Growing up he was captivated by his grandparents recounting a world very different from his own. After studying American history and literature at Harvard, he spent nearly 20 years in New York City, where he began his long collaboration with Dan Rather. He recently helped launch the Wonder Collaborative, an experiment in science filmmaking in his native San Francisco, where he lives with his wife Malia and daughters Eva and Helena who think he tells the best bedtime stories.

Tim Foley was born in Flint, Michigan, and since attending college at the Kendall School of Design, has made his home in Grand Rapids on the west side of the state. A freelance illustrator for the past three decades, his work has appeared in magazines and newspapers around the world and books have included many titles in the bestselling young adult "Who Was" biography series, as well as several adult coloring books.

Editorial Reviews

★ 02/22/2021

Both old-fashioned in lauding American virtue and revisionist in examining America’s “explosive injustices,” this graphic distillation of Rather’s 2017 bestseller embraces the nation’s faults and promise. Striding through event-packed panels in his trademark reporter’s trench coat, Rather enumerates the values he believes should unite the fractious country. Chapters focus on themes such as freedom and community, with Rather weaving in snapshots of his working-class Texas upbringing to illustrate everything from his appreciation of nature to the crucial role libraries and schools play in a functioning democracy. Unsurprisingly, the standout sections feature the anchorman defending journalism—arguing that the chaos of a free press is worth it when “long-term accountability is more important than short-term stability.” His decades as a reporter provide vivid jumping-off points to dissect issues from racism to war to homophobia (for example, after finally producing a report on AIDS in 1986, he notes that, “like so many others... I journeyed from ignorance to tolerance to inclusion”). Foley’s loose-lined illustrations are appropriately cheeky yet idealistic—Norman Rockwell by way of Larry Gonick. Though the traumas rooted in the 2016 election hang over the adaptation, Rather strikes a pragmatic message: “Democracy is an action more than a belief.” Rather and his collaborators’ work of clear-eyed optimism delicately threads American idealism and realism. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"[Dan Rathers] decades as a reporter provide vivid jumping-off points to dissect issues from racism to war to homophobia... Rather and his collaborators’ work of clear-eyed optimism delicately threads American idealism and realism."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This meticulously crafted volume distills Rather’s masterfully composed essays without sacrificing thought-provoking details, while Foley’s exacting artwork in a simple palette of red, white, blue, and black generates added nuance."— Booklist, starred review

"Rather’s firsthand accounts of moments like Watergate and the civil rights movement will appeal to readers interested in a nuanced look at recent U.S. history." — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

05/01/2021

Gr 9 Up—This graphic novel adaptation of Rather's collection of essays analyzes the United States' current political climate through the broad lens of the news anchor's career. Divided into ideas such as courage, empathy, and community, the work explores how these concepts were relevant to building the American essence. Dressed in a long trench coat, Rather pops up on each page, weaving in and out of the historical narrative and offering commentary on the country's many successes and failures, from Black Americans' fight for voting rights in the 1960s to the press's failure to criticize the decision to pursue war in Iraq in 2001. Rather praises a democracy's need for open access to ideas and hails libraries and journalism as the cornerstone of a healthy democracy. He notes that reading results in education and that a free press encourages the exchange of ideas that break down harmful biases and dogmas. The adaptation is clunky at times, and panels are packed with text. While Rather's tone sways back and forth between didactic and endearing, his desire to see a fractured nation united rings true. Foley's pared-down line art allows the narrative to take center stage, and a palette of red, white, and blue highlights Rather's hopeful idealism. As a white male, Rather acknowledges his own learning and unlearning over the span of his career, and encourages Americans to move forward toward a more inclusive society. VERDICT Rather's firsthand accounts of moments like Watergate and the civil rights movement will appeal to readers interested in a nuanced look at recent U.S. history.—Elise Martinez, Racine, WI

School Library Journal

2020-11-27
A graphic-history treatment of the newsman’s collection of essays on patriotism.

As the longtime anchor of the CBS Evening News and host of 48 Hours, Rather spent decades reporting the news as well as intoning pronouncements on the state of the nation, a role that his cartoon self fulfills here. In the full-page panel that ends the book—featuring the author walking through a billowing American flag—he proclaims, “I believe in a wide and expansive vision of our national destiny. And I believe in all of you to help make it a reality. Courage.” It’s difficult to figure out what to make of this graphic treatment, since it doesn’t appear to be targeting a younger readership than the original volume of text, and the illustrations aren’t as dynamic as one might expect from the publisher of Eddie Campbell, Jessica Abel, Gene Luen Yang, Joann Sfar, and others. Instead of the sweep of history carrying the narrator along, Rather is often just standing there, talking and observing. The most effectively illustrated passages are more personal, with young “Danny” coming of age in hardscrabble Texas in a family that imparted strong moral values. Yet his education has been a lifelong process, and he has grown to acknowledge the blinders of those times: how the history he learned was so heavily focused on White male achievements and how diversities of race, ethnicity, and sexual orientation were marginalized, even invisible. The author celebrates patriotism in the embrace of such diversity, and he remains relentlessly hopeful about the country he loves as a “land of wonder, awe, and optimism.” However, he is also candid about our myriad divisions on education, environmentalism, social issues, and more. The six chapters have a scattershot quality, skipping around instead of developing the arguments that he built in the original essays.

A surprisingly bland treatment from a passionate writer and American citizen.

Kirkus Reviews