She Speaks Truth

Ida B Wells: Let the Truth Be Told
Written by Walter Dean Myers
Illustrated by Bonnie Christensen
Published by Amistad and Collins

Copyright 2008
34 pages
Non-Fiction: Biography

 

Honestly, I chose this book because it was about Ida B. Wells, and I learned about her when I was in elementary school. This woman led an intriguing and important life that displayed perseverance and integrity. I knew that this book would not be a letdown because the author Walter Dean Myers is a very successful and well noted author that always seems to surpass expectations with his writings. This book was basically a quick summary of Mrs. Wells life. The story takes you from her humble beginnings in Holly Springs, Mississippi, to her run for senate in Illinois. The author did an outstanding job of incorporating the details that were most important. There are so many things that you can write about Mrs. Wells, but Myers selection of topics and life events was great. I do wish that the end would have been slightly more detailed though. All-in-all this was a great book that would be a great read for many kids today. The life of Mrs. Wells was too important to forget, and this book does a great job of portraying her importance in a simple yet holistic way.

            The watercolor paintings illustrated in this book are quite interesting. Chistensen uses a lot of extra black scratch marks in the images so that they are perceived as older. The illustrations portray a very distinctive style. The illustrations are arranged differently on every page. Some of the images take up the entire two pages, and the text overlaps the picture. Other pages contain an enormous amount of negative space with more than on picture fit together in a collage style. A lot of the pages have very tiny images below or above the text. Most of the pages are simply just one full picture opposing the text written on a blank background on the other page. I just love the images of this book. I would say the text placement is most formal. The book includes a couple of actual quotes form Ida which are all in a different color.  One last thing that I admired me was the first letter of the first sentence of every page is in a different color.

            In the back of this book is the timeline of Ida B. Well’s life. This book could be used during a history lesson. The teacher could use it during a lesson on the Civil War or about the Amendments of the Constitution. The teacher could create their own timeline of events they remembered from her life. The teacher could also make this into a writing lesson about what it would have been like to live in the time period that Ida lived. The students could also write about ways that they cold stand up for something they believe in. They could write about what if they would have been brave enough to be like Ida.