PICTURE BOOK NONFICTION: Fighting with Love: The Legacy of John Lewis by Lesa Cline-Ransome & James E. Ransome
ABOUT THE BOOK
The story of a groundbreaking civil rights leader, John Lewis, comes to life in this compelling and beautifully told nonfiction picture book.
John Lewis left a cotton farm in Alabama to join the fight for civil rights when he was only a teenager. He soon became a leader of a movement that changed the nation. Walking at the side of his mentor, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Lewis was led by his belief in peaceful action and voting rights. Today and always his work and legacy live on.
REVIEW
Covering his childhood through to Bloody Sunday (the march to Selma), Fighting with Love, highlights the life of John Lewis. From a young age, Lewis hungered for greater fairness and better treatment for black people. As a child he spent much of his time helping on the family farm except when he attended church or could make it to school. Trips to town revealed to him the realities of segregation which bothered him a great deal. After hearing Martin Luther King, Jr. speak over the radio, John was inspired to get involved in the Civil Rights Movement when he left home to attend seminary. He marched, sat, rode, and spoke; he even went to jail over 40 times in defense of his beliefs. Cline-Ransome highlights the preparation that John experienced that lead him to become a leader of the movement. The book ends as he and the other marchers stepped forward onto the Edmund Pettus Bridge, moving toward the state troopers waiting on the other side of the bridge. As a picture book biography, the limited space made it impossible to cover Lewis's entire eighty year life. The author hits the most important moments that led him to become the leader he became.
The back matter includes a photograph of Lewis on the bridge years later, along with photos of Lewis with the author and illustrator. The author's note gives additional information about Lewis's life after the march. A timeline, quote sources, and selected bibliography round out the back matter. The inclusion of quotes from Lewis himself makes the book all the more powerful. The length of the text as well as some of the references to events surrounding Lewis's life make the book appropriate for an older audience than most picture books. The book provides a powerful overview not only of Lewis's life but of the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement. Fighting for Love also highlights Lewis's focus on using principles of nonviolence and love in his work despite the violence he and so many others experienced, making the book a powerful teaching tool. The author and illustrator don't shy away from the realities of the violence but don't provide graphic details either.
James E. Ransome's art is beautiful as I would expect from seeing some of his other work. Using pencil drawings along with cut paper makes for gorgeous artwork that honors its subject very well. The words and illustrations come together beautifully, making this not only an inspiring story but a work of art in and of itself.
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