March Book One- John Lewis

March Book One, is a graphic novel written by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell. This novel features graphics starting from the civil rights movement up until the day President Obama was inaugurated. This book focuses on the struggles African Americans have lived with in the past and present day. It talks about how they overcame these obstacles and the importance of the civil right movement events.

Is it a good story?
I really enjoyed this graphic novel. I think it is a novel many students could relate to. I also think it would be a great book to pull pieces from for black history and when talking about the civil rights movement.

Did the characters fit in the setting?
Yes, the characters fit perfectly in this story. This novel has very important people from the civil rights movement that are incorporated. Also, Obama is a great character to have at the end of this novel, to focus on how African Americans overcame some obstacles.

Does the book transcend stereotypes?
I thought the book was fairly portrayed and when the book brought up stereotypes, it shut down how they were not accurate.

Did the characters seem real?
Yes, these characters were real people who portrayed and overcame these events.

Lexile: Gn7760L (10-13 years old)

Onomatopoeia: In this book it uses words like BANG! BOOM! BUMP!
Ellipses: Ex. pg. 88 They have been preparing... (88) They use many ellipses through out this graphic novel.
Foreshadowing: This book foreshadows many events that African Americans are going through, such as how they will be rejected service often or told no, or worse be beaten.

 Mini Lesson: I would use this graphic novel when talking about the Civil Rights Movement. Children will compare and contrast different texts including this one, about African Americans experience during this time period. They will then develop a paper explaining the similarities and differences.

Lewis, John. Aydin, Andrew. Powell, Nate. (2013) Top Shelf Productions.