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Summary
Summary
Newbery Honoree Carole Boston Weatherford and award-winning illustrator Eric Velasquez--the team behind Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library-- reunite to take full measure of an iconic performer and political activist.
Paul Robeson rose to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance, known for his extraordinary vocal, dramatic, and oratory skills. But he was a true Renaissance man: an accomplished athlete, a bright intellect, and a passionate supporter for humanitarian causes. He displayed his talents on many stages: the pulpit where he filled in for his minister father; on debate, football, baseball, basketball, and track teams; in college and law school classrooms; on the theatrical stage and the silver screen; and behind the podium. Paul Robeson became internationally renowned as a singer and actor, and as his fame grew, so did his unflinching activism against racial injustice. He used the power of his voice to speak out as America's conscience, but when his nation was not yet willing to listen, he found a more-supportive reception abroad--in Africa, Great Britain, and the USSR. In this moving birth-to-death biography, Carole Boston Weatherford's poetic first-person narrative, interlaced with excerpts from African American spirituals, pairs with dynamic illustrations by Eric Velasquez capturing Paul Robeson's commanding presence. Back matter includes a time line, source notes, and bibliography for readers inspired to learn more.
Author Notes
Carole Boston Weatherford, a New York Times best-selling author and poet, was named the 2019 Washington Post -Children's Book Guild Nonfiction Award winner. Her numerous books for children include the Newbery Honor Book BOX: Henry Brown Mails Himself to Freedom, illustrated by Michele Wood; the Coretta Scott King Author Award winner Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre , illustrated by Floyd Cooper; the Robert F. Sibert Honor Book Voice of Freedom: Fannie Lou Hamer, Spirit of the Civil Rights Movement , illustrated by Ekua Holmes; and the critically acclaimed Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library , illustrated by Eric Velasquez. Carole Boston Weatherford lives in North Carolina.
Eric Velasquez is the award-winning illustrator of Schomburg: The Man Who Built a Library , by Carole Boston Weatherford, which received a Walter Dean Myers Award and a Golden Kite Award, and ¡Mambo Mucho Mambo! The Dance That Crossed Color Lines by Dean Robbins. He has also won a John Steptoe New Talent Illustrator Award and a Pura Belpré Illustrator Award. Eric Velasquez lives in Hartsdale, New York.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
In comprehensive first-person free verse and oil portraiture, Boston Weatherford and Velasquez reverently draw the life of multifaceted performer, athlete, and activist Paul Robeson (1898--1976) via four acts: Youth, Artist, Activist, Erased. Propulsive text punctuated with song lyrics, many from African American spirituals, record key moments, including the early death of Robeson's mother ("Sometimes I feel like a motherless child"). From college athlete to stage and film actor, and rising to international celebrity, he became "an emissary for universal struggles," singing across Europe and the Soviet Union, and later experiencing repercussions for supporting progressive movements. Without shying away from the varied layers behind his public controversy or the details behind his attempted suicide, the creators painstakingly detail history's intersections in one activist-icon. Ages 9--12. (Apr.)
Kirkus Review
Weatherford and Velasquez explore actor Paul Robeson's remarkable achievements. Written as a "one-man show" in the first person, this tale in four acts highlights the phases of Robeson's remarkable life (1898-1976). He adored his father, who was born into slavery and gave Robeson every chance to develop mentally, physically, and spiritually. Robeson excelled as a scholar and athlete, and in college he developed his skills as a performer. Although he studied law, other opportunities led him to the stage, where his acting and singing moved crowds both at home and abroad. He took advantage of his fame to speak out against oppression wherever he went. Robeson enjoyed positive experiences in the Soviet Union, where he found that racism didn't curtail his life as it did in the U.S. When the Red Scare villainized Soviet and Communist sympathizers, Robeson refused to denounce communism; the government took away his U.S. passport, and his life and livelihood became limited. Lengthy verse, presented in double columns and a small typeface, is accompanied by powerful, painterly images, many based on actual photographs, set against a white background. Informative, insightful, and comprehensive, this book will be a valuable addition to reference shelves, classrooms, and anywhere older elementary children are drawn to learning more about legendary American changemakers. This inspiring volume leaves nothing out. (timeline, source notes, bibliography, copyright acknowledgments) (Picture-book biography. 8-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
ldquo;Two rivers rush through my blood: / Resistance and intellect. / They converge / in my heart, run deep / in my soul." Cast as powerful lines for a one-man retrospective show, interspersed with snatches of spirituals and folk songs in italics to suggest musical backgrounds, this first-person biographical account begins with Robeson's eighteenth-century antecedents and follows the performer and radical activist from childhood to success in collegiate sports and academics, then onto triumphs (and missteps, too) on stage and screen, his blacklisting during the McCarthy era, and, at last, to the strange, bitter end of his later career. His strength of character as an "unbending truth teller and troublemaker" comes through clearly in the illustrations as well as the words; in montages of images, many based on contemporary photographs, Velasquez poses him heroically, whether in charismatic performance, speaking out defiantly against racism and social injustice, or, finally, broken down by poor health (and equally poor medical treatment): "Oh Lord, I've done what you told me to do." Weatherford ends on a dramatic note with a pounding, alphabetically arranged summary of relevant one-word descriptors, from "activist" to "unparalleled." By including "un-American?" in that list, she invites readers to judge for themselves.
