Reviews with content warning for Racial slurs - And We Rise: The Civil Rights Movement in Poems

This book chronicles the civil rights movement with poems and imagery in a chronological manner. The writing was engaging and formatting elicited so many emotions. My heart aches for this part of our history. This documentation is challenging and moving. A collection I’ll revisit, and losses I mourn. All the stars.

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ivannna_u's review against another edition

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informative

4.0

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antonique_reads's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

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maple_dove's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? N/A
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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moonylovesstars's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative inspiring relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Powerful but I think I’d like the paperback better than the audiobook.

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typedtruths's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective fast-paced

4.0

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evelyno's review against another edition

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4.75

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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emotional informative medium-paced

5.0

Thank you to Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

This collection of non-fiction poems is a great start into digging into what happened during the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement. Filled with figures you'll recognize and some you might have never learned about. And We Rise is a short but powerful history that makes us reconcile the US's history we've been taught and what actually happened.

The collection of poems are beautiful rendered. I loved how they each flowed into each other, but we also can see how distinct events had impact. At the end, there's a historical timeline and that was extra helpful since there were some times I forgot the dates. Which is more about my brain trying to process everything and less about the writing here.

I loved the emotions these poems brought forth. Even though we are somewhat removed from the events since there's no primary character narrating to us, you still feel the despair, the hopelessness, the determination and perseverance of Black Americans in this.

This collection would be a great addition in classrooms or for people educating themselves. I read this along with The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness and The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, which is only enhancing the collective messages of these books. Highly recommend them all.

CWs: Racism, racial slurs, mentions of slavery/slaves, murder, lynching, police brutality, death, violence.

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