Sweet Land of Liberty

As a schoolboy in Virginia, Oscar Chapman tastes his first bitter moments of prejudices. Using the school money earned from a candy pull, he happily buys a gold-framed photograph, unknowingly of Abraham Lincoln, to decorate the school. After being expelled as a consequence, and experiencing other injustices with some friends, he yearns to take a stand. Following his life as an attorney, an opportunity arises for him to help singer Marian Anderson, who has won many fans in Europe, “yet in America, her own country, doors were still closed to her because of her race.” This story, informative yet well-told, is one of many people coming together to make a stand and thereby change the world; from a teacher and school board member on Oscar’s side during his youth, to Walter White, to Harold Ickes and even President and Eleanor Roosevelt. Culminating with an incredible turnout of 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial to hear Marian sing, this book gives importance to small actions leading to great results. The illustrations are extremely unique, though somehow fitting, in their mixed media format on chipboard. While the words speak to important historical details, the vibrant and stylized illustrations keep this firmly in the realm of enjoyable children’s stories, with swirls of graffiti-esque color adding a level of chaos and confusion that abstractly portrays the dissonance of the prejudices of the time period. The faces of the people depicted are created with just enough realism to feel a connection with them.