Martin Rising: Requiem for a King
CCBC Review:
In early April 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., returned to Memphis to stand again with striking sanitation workers. Fevered and tired, he wanted to skip the April 3 evening rally at Mason Temple, but went and roused the crowd with his oratory and his faith in the path of nonviolence and the promise of the future he knew he may not live to see. Late afternoon April 4, he participated in a gleeful pillow fight in his room at the Lorraine Motel before dressing for dinner. These and other moments illuminated in poems detailing King’s life, and especially his final days, his death, and the grief that followed, are full of poignancy, power, and tension. Divided into three sections—Daylight, Darkness, Dawn—the poems’ language and cadence don’t just invite but insist on being spoken aloud. Impeccably researched and documented, the poems, paired with expressive mixed-media illustrations, conclude with a brief photo essay about the Memphis strike and King’s assassination, along with a timeline, sources, and an essential author’s note. The pain of King’s loss feels immediate and shocking, the hope of his legacy lasting. ©2019 Cooperative Children’s Book CenterIllustrated by Brian Pinkney
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 9 and older
Age Range:
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Poetry
Subjects:
20th Century
Activism and Resistance
African Americans
Biography
Christian People
Civil Rights
Death and Dying
Grief and Loss
History (Nonfiction)
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Christian
Publisher:
Scholastic
Publish Year: 2018
Pages: 127
ISBN: 9780545702539
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 811 Pinkney