The Great Migration: an American Story

Brief Description: A series of paintings chronicles the journey of African Americans who, like the artist's family, left the rural South in the early twentieth century to find a better life in the industrial North. Publisher Marketing: Around the time of WWI, large numbers of African Americans began leaving their homes in the rural South in search of employment in the industrial cities of the North. In 1940, Lawrence chronicled their journey of hope in a flowing narrative sequence of paintings. This stirring picture book brings together the sixty panels of Lawrence's epic narrative Migration series, which he created in 1940-1941. They tell of the journey of African-Americans who left their homes in the South around World War I and traveled in search of better lives in the northern industrial cities. Lawrence is a storyteller with words as well as pictures: his captions and introduction to this book are the best commentary on his work. A poem at the end by Walter Dean Myers also reveals [as do the paintings] the universal in the particulars. --BL. Notable Children's Books of 1994 (ALA)1993 Books for Youth Editors' Choices (BL)1994 Teachers' Choices (IRA) Notable 1994 Childrens' Trade Books in Social Studies (NCSS/CBC)1994 Carter G. Woodson Outstanding Merit Book (NCSS)1994 Books for the Teen Age (NY Public Library) Review Citations:

Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 322 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2000 pg. 232 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2001 pg. 263 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Publishers Weekly 10/16/1995 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2005 pg. 297 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2006 pg. 375 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2009 pg. 428 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 603 (EAN 9780064434287, Paperback)

Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1994 pg. 36 (EAN 9780060230388, Library Binding)

Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/1995 pg. 232 (EAN 9780060230388, Library Binding)

Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 322 (EAN 9780060230388, Library Binding)

Booklist 11/15/1993 pg. 621 (EAN 9780060230388, Library Binding) - *Starred Review

Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/1994 pg. 869 (EAN 9780060230388, Library Binding)

Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1993 (EAN 9780060230388, Library Binding)

Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/1994 pg. 36 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/1995 pg. 232 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Wilson Children's Catalog 96 01/01/1996 pg. 322 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Booklist 11/15/1993 pg. 621 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Booklist Ed Choice Youth 01/01/1994 pg. 869 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

ALA Notable Childrens Books 01/01/1994 pg. 1353 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/1993 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Publishers Weekly 09/27/1993 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

School Library Journal 12/01/1993 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Wilson Middle/Junior Hi Catalo 01/01/2009 pg. 428 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Wilson Children's Catalog 01/01/2010 pg. 603 (EAN 9780060230371, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Lawrence, Jacob Author BioJacob Lawrence is a prominent American painter whose career spans six decades. He is known for several sequences of narrative paintings, including "Harriet Tubman" and "Frederick Douglass." Lawrence is the illustrator of Harriet in the Promised Land, a picture book. He is Professor Emeritus of Art at the University of Washington, Seattle. Contributor Bio:  Myers, Walter Dean Born in Marinsburg, West Virginia in 1937, Walter Dean Myers is one of the premier authors of books for children. His mother died very early in his life-an event that propelled him into experiences that later influenced him to write. It was difficult for Myers' father to raise eight children alone, and eventually, a nearby couple, Herbert and Florence Dean, took in three-year old Walter and moved to Harlem, New York. "Harlem became my home and the place where my first impressions of the world were set," says Myers. As a child, Myers went to school in his neighborhood and attended bible school almost every day of the week. Myers had a speech impediment which made communicating difficult for him, and often found himself in fights, defending himself against kids who taunted him. After a while, one of this teachers suggested to his class that they could write something to read aloud. Young Myers began writing poetry to give voice to his thoughts and feelings, and at age sixteen, won a prize in an essay contest and a set of encyclopedias for a long narrative poem. Later, his father bought him a used typewriter, which he used to churn out a seemingly endless stream of stories. Along with the many things he was discovering about himself, Myers was also learning how to survive. One day he had the courage to break up a fight between three gang members and a kid who had just moved into the neighborhood. He became a marked man-and felt his life was in danger. For example, once, he was sitting in the tree in Morningside Park, across from the building he lived in, reading O'Neill's "Mourning Becomes Electra," when some gang members spotted him and surrounded the tree. Myers jumped to theground, flashed a stiletto in order to fend them off, and made a mad dash for his building. He escaped, but he never forgot the incident. Later he enlisted in the army, got married, had a child, went through a turbulent creative struggle, got divorced, got married again-and during all of this, kept writing, whether his work pleased him or not. But Walter Dean Myers' life is not the story of a tormented, embittered artist. Rather it is the story of a gifted, complex person committed to sharing that gift with young readers. Myers' stories and novels paint a powerful picture of the pressures of growing up on big city streets. Yet, he emphasizes close relationships, trust, and personal growth. It seems that one of Myers' greatest struggles was to understand what type of writer he wanted to be. As the years passed and his books became more and more popular, Walter Dean Myers came to believe that his work filled a void for African American youths who yearned for positive reading experiences and role models. He frequently writes about children who share similar economic and ethnic situations with his own childhood. "But my situation as a parent did not mirror that of my childhood," he says. "While my parents were quite poor, my children are thoroughly entrenched in the middle class experience. To them African prints go well with designer jeans, pizzas go down easier to a reggae beat, and shopping malls are an unmistakable part of their culture." It is clear that Myers' understanding of both the world he was raised in and the world of his children allows him to bring an authority to his work that resonates with his young readers. It is one of many attributes that has made him one ofthe most important children's and young adult authors writing today. Among his many honors are two Newbery Honor books for "Scorpions "and" Somewhere in the Darkness," He is also a two-time recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award for "Now Is Your Time!" and "Fallen Angels," In addition, Myers has received the Margaret A. Edwards Award for his contribution to young adult literature. Myers' novel, "Darnell Rock Reporting," is a warm and humorous story about thirteen-year-old Darnell Rock-a boy who works on his school newspaper. The book is sure to appeal to reluctant readers. Myers' recent picture book, "How Mr. Monkey Saw the Whole World," is a cautionary fable about a watchful monkey who sees that a greedy buzzard gets his comeuppance. Myer's recent work, "145th Street: Short Stories" (A "Boston Globe-Horn Book" Honor Book) captures the heartbeat of one memorable block in Harlem, New York. These powerful, often gripping stories range from humor and celebration to terror and grief. Walter Dean Myers, the father of three grown children, lives with his wife in Jersey City, New Jersey.