by G. Neri
The topic and the actual event are so much more powerful than the book itself. I find the narrative voice (supposedly a fairy young child’s) unconvincing and slips into mere reporting for the majority of the tale. It does not really move me.
As to the graphic/art part of the book: I thought to myself, “Oh, the graphics quality will be improved, touched up, and finessed, and the face of the same character will be more consistently drawn so the readers won’t be confused… in the final book… ” … but then realized that I WAS reading the published book, not an ARC. Slightly puzzled by my own less than lukewarm reception since it has received a starred review and high praises from several reviewers. Someone, convince me!
Fairrosa Cyber Library 
Yes, I know what you mean. The art work feels hurried and rough. And Greg Neri is not a comic book writer, and so I think he’s not sure what to trust to the artist to show. But there’s not a strong graphic novel tradition for african-americans writers and illustrators. So I feel since this breaks new ground and I”m very glad this was published as a graphic novel.
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