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From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)

“When I was born, on October 6, 1917, the plantation owner / paid my mother fifty dollars for producing a future field hand.” A biography in poems of activist Fannie Lou Hamer follows her path from a childhood working cotton in a family of sharecroppers to her emergence as a civil rights activist and politician working to secure voting rights and representation for African Americans in Mississippi and nationally. Readable, accessible, and compelling, the poems in Hamer’s first-person voice illuminate her strength of character, but they also feel personal, with vivid details ranging from tender (remembering a mother who taught her “black is beautiful”) to painful (being sterilized without her knowledge). Direct quotes from Hamer are woven into the poems in italics. An author’s note telling more about Hamer’s life and her activism, timeline, and detailed source notes are provided. The illustrations are singular artistic compositions that interpret the content of each individual poem while giving the volume as a whole a striking visual impact and cohesive visual tone. (Age 10 and older)

CCBC Choices 2016 © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2016. Used with permission.

From AudioFile Magazine

Opening with a spirited rendition of "This Little Light of Mine," one of Fannie Lou Hamer's favorite hymns, narrator Janina Edwards's lilting performance is immediately entrancing. She authoritatively reads Weatherford's Sibert Honor-winning free verse poems in a style and cadence rich with references to the rural South. Although this is not, technically, a read-along, listeners can easily pick up a copy of the book and follow the text while enjoying its award-winning collage illustrations. This production includes an author's note, read by the narrator, as well as a timeline, source notes, and other resources. This audiobook would make an excellent introduction to the sounds of the Civil Rights movement. S.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine