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Average rating4
RUN, the Eisner Award-Winner for Best Graphic Memoir, is one of the most heralded books of the year including being named a: New York Times Top 5 YA Books of the Year · Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens (Young Adult Library Services Association) · Washington Post Best Books of the Year · Variety Best Books of the Year · School Library Journal Best Books of the Year · Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year · Amazon Best History Book of 2021 • Top Ten Title of the Year (In the Margins Book Award) · In the Margins Book Award for Nonfiction winner · Top Ten Graphic Novels for Adults (American Library Association) · Best Books for Young Readers (U of Penn Graduate School of Education) · Books All Young Georgians Should Read (Georgia Center for the Book) First you march, then you run. From the #1 bestselling, award–winning team behind March comes the first book in their new, groundbreaking graphic novel series, Run: Book One. “Run recounts the lost history of what too often follows dramatic change—the pushback of those who refuse it and the resistance of those who believe change has not gone far enough. John Lewis’s story has always been a complicated narrative of bravery, loss, and redemption, and Run gives vivid, energetic voice to a chapter of transformation in his young, already extraordinary life.” –Stacey Abrams “In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect Union here in America.” –Congressman John Lewis The sequel to the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series March—the continuation of the life story of John Lewis and the struggles seen across the United States after the Selma voting rights campaign. To John Lewis, the civil rights movement came to an end with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. But that was after more than five years as one of the preeminent figures of the movement, leading sit–in protests and fighting segregation on interstate busways as an original Freedom Rider. It was after becoming chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and being the youngest speaker at the March on Washington. It was after helping organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer and the ensuing delegate challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. And after coleading the march from Selma to Montgomery on what became known as “Bloody Sunday.” All too often, the depiction of history ends with a great victory. But John Lewis knew that victories are just the beginning. In Run: Book One, John Lewis and longtime collaborator Andrew Aydin reteam with Nate Powell—the award–winning illustrator of the March trilogy—and are joined by L. Fury—making an astonishing graphic novel debut—to tell this often overlooked chapter of civil rights history.
Reviews with the most likes.
Artwork is amazing. Story barely gets going before the book is over and I'm weirdly upset by it cause now John Lewis is dead and I wanted to hear about his career in federal US politics. I'm sure they'll do a volume 2 but its not the same.
This is, necessarily, a different and more painful series than March. For starters, we're now living in a world without John Lewis. Then there's the story arc: March ended on a triumphant note, the passing of the Voting Rights Act, huzzah. Unfortunately, the VRA did not immediately vanquish intolerance and injustice in the USA.
Run chronicles the slog ahead: new ways to intimidate and disenfranchise Black voters and candidates; the conviction and sentencing of white terrorists for murdering – oops, my mistake: I meant the continued murder of Blacks with total impunity; and the growing schism in the SNCC, between the nonviolents and those espousing aggression, leading to Lewis's ouster from his (til then) lifelong path. Book One covers 1965-1966, and I'm worried that at some point they might get to 1968, which was not a good year.
Two panels halfway through serve as a sobering reminder of how far we've come:
The number of polling places was reduced, making it almost impossible for poor voters–without access to cars–to cast a ballot. And many of the polling places were moved to new locations.
Series
1 primary bookRun is a 1-book series first released in 2021 with contributions by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin.