This month I am rec­om­mend­ing The Unde­feat­ed, by New­bery Award-win­ning poet and author Kwame Alexan­der and illus­trat­ed by Kadir Nel­son. The Unde­feat­ed won the 2020 Calde­cott Medal, the 2020 Coret­ta Scott King (Illus­tra­tor) Book Award, and a 2020 New­bery Honor.

The Unde­feat­ed is a trib­ute to African Amer­i­cans through­out Amer­i­can his­to­ry, from the time of being cap­tured, though slav­ery, the civ­il rights move­ment, and high­lights achieve­ments in sports, lit­er­a­ture, music, pol­i­tics, and oth­er fields. A poem that forms the text cel­e­brates those who sur­vived as well as those who did­n’t, an acknowl­edge­ment of the painful his­to­ry that should not be forgotten. 

It’s a trib­ute to African Amer­i­can heroes and reg­u­lar folks who faced strug­gles, prej­u­dice and those who suc­ceed­ed despite their hard­ships. From the bold pic­tures to the poet­ic words, this book is well worth read­ing. You can see it being read on You Tube.

From one read­er to another,

Julia Levine