Welcome to Windows & Mirrors, where we feature books that provide us windows to lives outside our own and mirrors to our shared common human experiences.
Today we are featuring TWO new books by author and librarian Alice Faye Duncan!
First up, A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks. Through free verse, Alice Faye Duncan celebrates the life and times of Gwendolyn Brooks, an African-American poet whose gifts were first noticed while she was very young. In fact, she was so gifted that her parents allowed her to skip chores to work on her writing. (Isn’t that every kid’s dream?) This picture book biography is the first of its kind to feature lovely Gwendolyn Brooks, who was the first person of color to win the Pulitzer Prize back in 1950.
I love how the author highlights Gwendolyn’s talent, her art, and her strong convictions and belief in herself, including her dedication to her craft. I was very struck by how much her parents encouraged and supported her work. It’s a great reminder to us all to always be a positive force in supporting those who are learning to express themselves through the arts. Xia Gordon’s illustrations are very pleasing to the eye and help convey the emotion of Duncan’s words. Overall the effect is extraordinary, and I’m thrilled that young readers will be able to read this inspirational biography of Gwendolyn Brooks as they begin their own practice of learning to write poetry. The author’s note, timeline, suggested reading, and bibliography at the end of the book are sure to inspire more interest in this fabulous poetry icon. For 6+
A Song for Gwendolyn Brooks releases on 1/1/19 and is available for preorder or requesting from your library. Thank you to the author and Sterling Press for providing me with a review copy!
Also, Alice Faye Duncan’s Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop released just a few months ago. This historical fiction picture book reveals the story the Memphis sanitation strike, which was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s final stand for justice before his assassination. The story is told through the eyes of nine-year-old Lorraine Johnson. Lorraine’s father was a sanitation worker who participated in the protest, which was triggered when two black sanitation workers died because their poorly-maintained truck malfunctioned. After the Mayor Henry Loeb refused to meet the demands of the sanitation workers’ union for better wages, respectful treatment, and improved safety, 1,300 men walked off the job.
Memphis is the author’s hometown, and the urgency of the story shines through her prose. I knew nothing the Memphis sanitation strike before picking up this picture book, and its relationship to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. put the history of that time period in a new light for me. The illustrations help illuminate the history and are powerfully rendered in combination with Duncan’s superb storytelling. It is no surprise that Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop has earned multiple starred reviews from Kirkus, School Library Journal, Booklist, and others.
Like The Song of Gwendolyn Brooks, Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop is a MUST purchase for all library collections. I’m really looking forward to Alice Faye Duncan’s next book releasing around Mother’s Day, Just Like Mama.
Alice Faye Duncan is the author of multiple children’s books including Honey Baby Sugar Child, Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop, and The Twelve Days of Christmas in Tennessee. For the last 25 years, she has served as a librarian for her hometown in the Memphis Public School system. Alice Faye Duncan, a Level 5 educator in Tennessee, is also National Board Certified. Visit Alice at her website or connect with her on Twitter.
