March: Book One

Black History Month

Staff recommendations, guest essays, and curated reading lists.

25 Books to Read Before You Die: 21st Century

These books create a stunning portrait of contemporary American life.

This incredible memoir is a masterful example of what the graphic novel format can accomplish. The emotive art and engaging storytelling work hand-in-hand to immerse the reader in Congressman John Lewis’s early life and activism, and the frame narrative of President Obama’s 2009 inauguration pulls the struggles, efforts, and hopes of the civil rights movement into the modern day. March is an essential reminder that this history is far from ancient, and as Lewis himself said, “The responsibility is ours alone to build a better society and a more peaceful world.” Recommended By Madeline S., Powells.com

Whether you're familiar with him or not, John Lewis's memoir is a must read. The graphic novel format makes it a welcome introduction to Lewis's life and activism during the Civil Rights Movement, but it's also a compelling story if you're already versed in the history.  Recommended By Ashleigh B., Powells.com

Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon, one of the key figures of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president.

Now, to share his remarkable story with new generations, Lewis presents March, a graphic novel trilogy, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole).

March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement.

Book One spans John Lewis' youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall.

Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activists drew inspiration from the 1958 comic book "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story." Now, his own comics bring those days to life for a new audience, testifying to a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations.

"A riveting and beautiful civil-rights story....Lewis's gripping memoir should be stocked in every school and shelved at every library." The Washington Post

"An astonishingly accomplished graphic memoir that brings to life a vivid portrait of the civil rights era, Lewis' extraordinary history and accomplishments, and the movement he helped lead...its power, accessibility and artistry destine it for awards, and a well-deserved place at the pinnacle of the comics canon." NPR

"March offers a poignant portrait of an iconic figure that both entertains and edifies, and deserves to be placed alongside other historical graphic memoirs like Persepolis and Maus." Entertainment Weekly

"When a graphic novel tries to interest young readers in an important topic, it often feels forced. Not so with the exhilarating March: Book One....Powerful words and pictures." The Boston Globe

"The civil rights movement can seem to some like a distant memory...Rep. John Lewis refreshes our memories in dramatic fashion." The Chicago Tribune

"Dazzling...a grand work." Booklist (starred review)

"A powerful tale of courage and principle igniting sweeping social change, told by a strong-minded, uniquely qualified eyewitness...the heroism of those who sat and marched...comes through with vivid, inspiring clarity." Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

"Lewis's remarkable life has been skillfully translated into graphics....Segregation's insult to personhood comes across here with a visual, visceral punch. This version of Lewis's life story belongs in libraries to teach readers about the heroes of America." Library Journal (starred review)

"This is superb visual storytelling that establishes a convincing, definitive record of a key eyewitness to significant social change, and that leaves readers demanding the second volume." School Library Journal (starred review)

John Lewis is Georgia's Fifth Congressional District Representative and an American icon widely known for his role in the Civil Rights Movement. Lewis' 1999 memoir Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement, called "the definitive account of the civil rights movement" (The Washington Post), won numerous honors, including the Robert F. Kennedy, Lillian Smith, and Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards. His most recent book, Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change, received for the NAACP Image Award. His first graphic novel, March (Book One) — co-authored with Andrew Aydin — will be published by Top Shelf in August 2013.

Andrew Aydin is the co-author (with Congressman John Lewis) of the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel March: Book One. Hailing from Atlanta, he currently serves in Rep. Lewis' congressional office handling telecommunications and technology policy as well as new media. Previously, he served as communications director and press secretary during Rep. Lewis' 2008 and 2010 re-election campaigns, as District Aide to Rep. John Larson (D-CT), and as Special Assistant to Connecticut Lt. Governor Kevin Sullivan. Andrew is a graduate of the Lovett School in Atlanta, Trinity College in Hartford, and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.

Nate Powell is a New York Times best-selling graphic novelist born in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1978. He began self-publishing at age 14, and graduated from the School of Visual Arts in 2000. His work includes the critically acclaimed Any Empire, Swallow Me Whole (winner of the Eisner Award and Ignatz Award, finalist for the LA Times Book Prize), The Year of the Beasts, The Silence of Our Friends, and Sounds of Your Name. He lives in Bloomington, Indiana.