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Summary
Summary
Published on the 150th anniversary of John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, this biography explores the life of one of American history's most controversial figures. A great deal of academic study has been published recently about John Brown. This is the first book for young readers to include these new attitudes and research.
In the late 1850s, at a time when many men and women spoke out against slavery, few had the same impact as John Brown, the infamous white abolitionist who backed his beliefs with unstoppable action. His dedication to freeing the American slaves made him one of the most recognizable leaders in the liberation movement to end slavery.
Told through engaging, thoughtful narration and bold, dynamic illustrations, John Brown: His Fight for Freedom is a fitting reminder that all men and women are created equal, and that some things are worth fighting for. The book includes an author's note, a bibliography, and an index. F&P level: U
Author Notes
John Hendrix is a New York Times bestselling author and illustrator. His books include The Faithful Spy: Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the Plot to Kill Hitler , named a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, and Drawing Is Magic: Discovering Yourself in a Sketchbook . His award-winning illustrations have appeared on book jackets and in newspapers and magazines. He is chair of the MFA in Illustration & Visual Culture program in the Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts at Washington University in St. Louis. Hendrix lives in Webster Groves, Missouri.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This unflinching biography by illustrator Hendrix (Abe Lincoln Crosses the Creek), his first as author, begins with a lucid summary of the antislavery movement, pre-Civil War politics and Brown's early activities in the underground railroad. With the massacre of proslavery settlers at Pottawatomie Creek, Hendrix zooms in closer to reconstruct the abolitionist's transformation into an outlaw ("John's ruthless tactics spread fear into the hearts of the Border Ruffians and others, but also branded John a crazed madman"). The violent raid in Harper's Ferry, Va., leads to Brown's arrest and execution and is the climactic event of this compelling narrative. In an author's note, Hendrix opines why Brown should be admired as visionary, not villain ("Terrorists crave destruction and turmoil, and the seed of John's rebellion was compassion"). An aptly polarized palette of saturated amber and blue acrylic washes with pen and ink lends the folk hero's tale hyperbolic splendor (in one memorable spread Brown metamorphoses into a tornado). Hand-hewn, period-fashion fonts spell out Brown's pronouncements and biblical quotations, underlining his convictions. A strong introduction to Brown's controversial legacy. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Intermediate) Let's face it: when John Brown stormed Harpers Ferry, he earned the historical reputation as a crazed zealot sacrificing his rag-tag army for his own fanaticism. Hendrix shifts his biography away from this view, showing how Brown's growing militarism began with a wish for all races to be treated equally, exploded in violence as Kansas bled with slavers and free-staters fighting on the border, and concluded with his stand at Harpers Ferry in 1859 and subsequent hanging. Brown is presented as a larger-than-life figure, a rough-hewn man whose physical features and quoted statements become visually more emphatic as the book progresses. But the rock-solid landscape compositions, all earth tones and cool blues, set the stage for Hendrix to argue his premise in a concluding author's note: that a sensible concern for hostages, rather than ineptness or zeal, led to Brown's capture and trial. Still, the debate about the ends justifying the means is timely -- the jacket art showing Brown marching on with two small black children could well be captioned "Onward Christian Soldiers." An author's note, bibliography, and index conclude the book. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Hendrix, who illustrated the terrific Abe Lincoln Crosses a Creek (2008), now tries his hand as both author and artist in this account of one of America's more controversial figures. He traces how John Brown went from conducting slaves along the Underground Railroad to espousing violent insurrection as a means to end slavery. Unflinchingly, Hendrix recounts the sometimes brutal lengths to which Brown was driven by his abolitionist furor, walking the line between lauding and condemning the man while making the case for his ideals, if not all his actions. At times, especially evident in the account of the doomed raid on Harper's Ferry, Hendrix loses the reins of the story and reveals his inexperience as a writer; but his inspired ink-and-watercolor illustrations help smooth over the rough patches. Reinforcing Brown as a larger-than-life folk hero, the pictures are exhilarating as he twists into Kansas as a righteous tornado in one scene, harrowing as a noose tightens around the battered, unrepentant man in another. While the intense and complicated subject matter reserves this picture book for older readers, the attention-commanding artwork (and indeed, the entire book design) is so magnificently rendered that students who might be resistant to reading about historical figures, especially in a picture-book format, will be drawn in. By embracing Brown's complexity, especially in the well-argued afterword, Hendrix sows acres of fertile ground for discussion about motivations and repercussions, and the direness of the conflict over slavery that would soon plunge the nation into civil war.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2009 Booklist
School Library Journal Review
Gr 4-8-John Brown is a larger-than-life figure in Hendrix's bold pen-and-ink drawings washed in acrylic. The historical account begins with a somewhat terse explanation of Brown's beliefs and respect for his "free black neighbors." Hendrix discusses the array of attitudes about slavery in the 1840s. He goes on to describe Brown's growing passion as the Kansas-Nebraska Act stirred up the controversy and he met Frederick Douglass and Harriet Tubman, who responded differently to his militant stand. Though the book is laid out across full spreads with substantial text, the energetic and often disproportionate characters and the bold array of typefaces in conversation, labels, and quotes blend picture-book and graphic elements. The narrative is both colorful and blunt as Brown's campaign to raise an army develops. "Like a great fuming tornado, John swept across the plains to fight for Kansas.John and his sons stormed the houses of five pro-slavery settlers,.took the men to the creek, and killed them with broadswords." The tragedy grows, of course, with the raveling raid at Harpers Ferry. Hendrix closes with Brown's unwavering words at his execution and brief commentary on the ensuing publicity. "His war did not bring freedom, but his voice roused a complacent nation to action." Brown's famous/infamous campaign is covered only briefly in children's books on the Civil War; this thought-provoking presentation on the man and his time could also stimulate discussion of militancy in today's world.-Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
John Brown, with a makeshift flag in one hand and a tiny African-American tot cradled in the other, stands heroically on the jacket of this handsome picture-book biography. His face may be wizened and worn, but his eyes are fixed solely on the future, where he believed one day blacks would become not only free but equal. Often considered a madman or, at best, a tyrannical abolitionist, Brown had another sideone that was so overwhelmed by injustice that he simply had to act. Blood was shed as a result, especially in his attack on pro-slavery settlers in Kansas and the failed raid on Harper's Ferry, but compassion fueled his fight. In sweeping acrylic washes and with speech bubbles that unfurl across entire spreads, Hendrix makes Brown loom larger than life, and rightly so. His magazine-illustration background is evident in spreads that combine the iconic and the realistic to compress the visual storytelling into one heightened image. Not a story for the younger set, but an important view of one of the most controversial men in American history. (author's note, sources, index) (Informational picture book. 8-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.