MARTIN RISING: Requiem for a King written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney is a breathtaking historical account of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s support of the sanitation workers in Memphis who went on strike February 11, 1968, his “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech and his assassination on April 4,1968.
This illustrated book for ages 10 and up is beautifully written in poetry and richly illustrated in watercolor, gouache and India ink. The words are engaging as they move the reader through the challenges facing the strikers and the struggles facing Dr. King. Andrea Pinkney calls her narratives “docu-poetry” and invites teachers to have their students read them aloud. The inspired illustrations by Brian Pinkney are characterized by circles of swirling colors that match the ever-growing intensity of the facts on the ground.
The book is divided into three parts: Daylight, Darkness and Dawn. One of the most compelling structures of the storytelling is the inclusion of Henny Penny and her worry that the sky might be falling. The chicken sets the tone for the book in the Prelude and carries it through to its conclusion. She thrashes around, bats her wings, turns, twists and squawks, but:
“no matter how much she
tries to deflect
the inevitable—
nothing can erase the name
etched in the bullet’s face.
Power bird,
forced to surrender,
is the first to cry”.
MARTIN RISING: Requiem for a King written by Andrea Davis Pinkney and illustrated by Brian Pinkney with timelines and photographs in the back material is a book not to be missed (Scholastic Press, 2018).