Thurgood
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Thurgood Marshall--the first black justice on the Supreme Court and a giant of the civil rights movement--jumps to life in this inspiring picture-book biography from an award-winning author and six-time Coretta Scott King, four-time Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator.
Thurgood Marshall was a born lawyer--the loudest talker, funniest joke teller, and best arguer from the time he was a kid growing up in Baltimore in the early 1900s. He would go on to become the star of his high school and college debate teams, a stellar law student at Howard University, and, as a lawyer, a one-man weapon against the discriminatory laws against black Americans. After only two years at the NAACP, he was their top lawyer and had earned himself the nickname Mr. Civil Rights. He argued--and won--cases before the Supreme Court, including one of the most important cases in American history: Brown v Board of Education. And he became the first black U.S. Supreme Court Justice in history.
Like its subject, here is a biography that crackles with energy and intensity--a great introduction to a great man.
A Washington Post Best Book of the Year
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Youth Editor’s Choice Selection
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children’s Literature’s Best Book
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Excellent storytelling in word and image unite in this essential biography of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall (1908 1993). In percussive text that combines the pacing of a courtroom recital with plainspoken accessibility, Winter covers essential anecdotes in Marshall's life, including his arrest as a 15-year-old for defending himself from a bigot and his rejection from the University of Maryland. These hammer home the realities of existence in a segregated U.S., and the injustices Marshall saw and fought in the great, ongoing battles for a fair and just society. Repeated capitalized words (Fact, Justice, Verdict) punctuate "the facts of his case," building narrative urgency that carries through Marshall's win in Brown v. Board of Education and culminates in his ascent to Supreme Court justice. Collier's watercolor collages with subtly visible seams reflect the deep complexities of lives shaped by a fractured society, representing multifaceted experience, deep emotion, and irresistible forward motion. The author's note states that this short volume "cannot possibly convey the magnitude of his legacy." But Winter and Collier have created a catalyst that will inspire readers to learn more about this giant of American history. Ages 5 9.
