A review by crizzle
The Life of Frederick Douglass: A Graphic Narrative of a Slave's Journey from Bondage to Freedom by David F. Walker
5.0
I’ve become a big fan of historical/biographical nonfiction graphic novels. I do like to learn history but if it’s condensed a bit and with illustrations, well of course I’ll choose that over a textbook! This is another one I think everyone should read (middle school-aged on up). It was VERY well done and I cried near the end. I’ve read one of Frederick Douglass’s autobiographies, but probably a decade or more ago, although I remember it being FANTASTIC and have recommended it to others through the years. This was a great refresher course, told in his voice, and I plan on reading his actual autobiography again someday in the next few years.
This one had a few breakers of quick history lessons on American slavery, photography and Frederick Douglass (did you know he was the most photographed American in the 19th century? He wanted people to see what a real Black person looks like, verses the crude caricatures drawn for newspapers), and the Civil War. Very interesting to me was the relationship between Douglass and Lincoln; even though Douglass was an outspoken critic of Lincoln and his wishy washy stance on slavery, the two actually were becoming closer to friends before the assassination.
This one had a few breakers of quick history lessons on American slavery, photography and Frederick Douglass (did you know he was the most photographed American in the 19th century? He wanted people to see what a real Black person looks like, verses the crude caricatures drawn for newspapers), and the Civil War. Very interesting to me was the relationship between Douglass and Lincoln; even though Douglass was an outspoken critic of Lincoln and his wishy washy stance on slavery, the two actually were becoming closer to friends before the assassination.