Martin Luther King Jr.

February 1, 2013
Grades 3-5 This entry in the I Am series opens with an introduction in the words of King himself before switching over to a third-person voice for nine chapters detailing the great civil rights leader's life. Boxed insets add historic context and more specific information, such as a quick background on Project C, used to hide protest plans from the KKK, as well as a roundup of the damage following the Watts riot. Despite the photographic cover image, Alba's contributions are pencil illustrations which, while good at reproducing faces, are not especially dynamic. There is no shortage of books about MLK Jr., but many are for the picture-book and YA audience, making this title a nice fit for middle readers. Backmatter closing this solid title includes famous quotes, 10 Things You Should Know about Martin Luther King, Jr., and, well, 10 More Things that Are Pretty Cool to Know.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)