By Water: The Felix Manz Story

 

My Thoughts:

This graphic novel is a biography of Felix Manz, a martyr living in Zurich between 1498 and 1527.  Water is used as a weapon of death and a tool for baptism. The watercolor art seems add serenity to a difficult period in Zurich, but I keep thinking who will want to read this? With its focus on religious persecution, plague and war in Zurich in the 1500s,  how is this story compelling to contemporary teens and tweens? 

Kirkus Reviews calls this biography "ambitious," and perhaps it is ambitious because its topic is not exactly appealing to young readers. The cover itself looks old fashioned. I can see this in my classroom, but I donʻt know who would pick it up.

From the Publisher:

In a time of social upheaval, in a city astir with dangerous new ideas, the son of a Catholic priest becomes a leader of a nonviolent revolution.

Five hundred years ago, in an age marked by war, plague, inequality, and religious coercion, there were people across Europe who dared to imagine a society of sharing, peace, and freedom of conscience. These radicals were ready to die for their vision. They were executed by the thousands—by water, by fire, and by sword—in both Catholic and Protestant states. Their stories come to life in this graphic novel series that dramatically recreates a little-known chapter in the history of the Reformation.

By Water, is a true story of friendship and betrayal set in the Swiss city of Zurich. It chronicles the conflict between establishment reformer Ulrich Zwingli (1484–1531) and his student Felix Manz (1498–1527), who at first reveres Zwingli as a father figure but ends up drowned on Zwingli’s orders for insisting that only adult believers should be baptized. In this dramatic visualization of the birth of the Radical Reformation, water is both wonder and weapon, a symbol of new life and a death sentence.

This action-packed, historically accurate account of young people standing up for their convictions against the corrupt political and religious leaders of their day will awaken courage and commitment in young readers today.

Publication Information:

Author - Jason Landsel

Illustrator - Sankha Banerjee

Publisher - Plough Publishing House (Mar 21, 2023)

Shining a Light: Celebrating 40 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World

 

My Thoughts:

This book of 40 one-page biographies of Asian American and Pacific Islanders are perfect for upper elementary and middle level readers who can get a short teaser of these leaders and then go and do research to complete their own inquiry project by finding other sources. The illustrations of each leader by Victo Ngai adds to the biography because of its use of background art and color palette. 

Many of the names were very familiar to me as someone from Hawaiʻi, like Duke Kahanamoku, Daniel Inouye, Patsy Mink, Tammy Duckworth and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson. What I appreciated, though were the lesser known standouts. 

One example is number 23, Wataru "Wat" Misaka (12/21/23-11/20/19). During World War II, the Misaka family was spared imprisonment under the incarceration order so that he could attend college at the University of Utah where he was a basketball standout on their 1944 national championship. While traveling with the team, he would sometimes say he was from Hawaiʻi (he was a nisei from Utah) so that his team did not suffer from anti-Japanese pushback. Sometimes he even had to sit somewhere else other than the bench because of the racist crowds. 

For the Japanese Americans in internment camps, Wat Misaka was a beacon of hope. After he won the championship, he was drafted in the US Army, but was able in return to Utah after the war and help his team win another championship.

When he got drafted in 1947 to play with the New York Knicks, he became the first player of color to play basketball professionally. Although he only played three games before the Knicks released him, he decided to return to Utah to study engineering rather than accept the invitation to play for the Harlem Globetrotters. Because of the huge anti Japanese sentiment, this historical event was not celebrated until 1999 when he was inducted into the Utah Sports Hall of Fame. In 2009 President Barack Obama honored him at the White House as the first person of color in the NBA.

Pair this story with #40, Sunisa "Suni" Lee, the Hmong American gymnast from St. Paul Minnesota whose father built equipment for her as the Hmong community helped contribute to fundraisers for her training, and there is a pattern of strong community and perseverance in all of these stories. 

From the Publisher:

Meet forty people who helped change the world in countless ways in this beautifully illustrated collective biography.

From scientists to sports stars, aerospace engineers to artists, every person shines in this collection. Dynamic portraits portray each person with bold colors and clever, precise details. Each biography celebrates the determination and courage of people who were on the forefront of changing society.

Using their specific talents, each individual fought for the space for people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent to be seen and treated with dignity and respect. Their important legacy lives on today.

Publication Details:

Author: Veeda Bybee

Illustrator: Victor Ngai

Publisher: Versify (March 28, 2023)

Pigskins to Paintbrushes (Nonfiction Picture Book)

 

Publication date: August 17, 2021

Author and illustrator: Don Tate

This biography about the late athlete and artist Ernie Barnes is a fabulous window into an American success story. Ernest Barnes, Jr. was badly bullied in school for being different. He was not athletic in a time when athleticism in black boys was a way out of the ghetto. Instead, he loved to observe beauty and draw, but he also lived in a place where blacks were not allowed in museums. His mother, a domestic, worked for a lawyer who let young Ernie look through his art books in his library. In high school, a coach saw his sketchbook and encouraged him to get into bodybuilding which led to Barnes playing football in high school, college and the AFL. His art, which he was able to do after his early retirement, has a dynamic flow of bodies that comes from his observations and sketching while playing sports. 

This is a new person for me and although he died in 2009, I got to meet him and his art for the first time through this children's book and spent hours reading articles about him and his pieces like "Sugar Shack" below.