To honor National Poetry Month, a Young Reviewer shares their thoughts about Kin: Rooted in Hope by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Jeffrey Boston Weatherford.
Kin: Rooted in Hope
Author: Carole Boston Weatherford
Illustrator: Jeffrey Boston Weatherford
Through free verse, an author seeks and shares the story of her family tree, which has been shaped by enslavement and liberation. Expressive black and white scratchwork illustrations.
“I liked that the author wrote it in flowing prose and you could really visualize the place that the people were in and at the same time have the fullness of the topic hit you head-on and really make you understand the resistance, the hope, the sadness, the desire for freedom of a people who had and have been oppressed for so long.
I thought that this book was incredibly special because you got a look at so many different perspectives, from the child of an enslaver to the famous abolitionist, Frederick Douglass and you were able to see how enslavers tried to make enslaving seem completely okay by deeming enslaved people as “not people the same way they were”, yet enslaved people were filled with hope and a steely resistance that kept them going no matter what and they fought the unfair bonds that they were held under.”
–Maya, age 12, Boston, MA.
Young people who are interested in reviewing are invited to do so as we welcome the individual perspective of our age appropriate readers. If you are interested in being a reviewer, contact youngreviewers@bankstreet.edu.
See our Monthly Picks Archive 2012–2018, and our Monthly Picks 2019–present.