Choosing Brave

Starred review from June 1, 2022
The brutal killing of a Black youth turns his mother into an activist for justice. This poignant volume about the murder of Emmett Till focuses on his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, and how her son's death drove her to seek justice, first for him and then for the Black community. Mamie and her family moved from Mississippi to the outskirts of Chicago, hoping for a better life. Mamie married young boxer Louis Till. Their baby boy had many medical problems, but Mamie refused to institutionalize him. When a chance came for Emmett to spend time with family in Mississippi, she was reluctant but gave in. He had not been there long before word came that he was missing. When his body was found, it was barely recognizable and Mamie was told not to open the casket. However, she was determined that the world would know what was done to Emmett, and the images from the open viewings had a major impact on the growing civil rights movement. Although those accused of his murder were allowed to go free, Mamie continued her fight for social change, ensuring Emmett Till's story would not be forgotten. This story is told with hauntingly lyrical language that successfully captures the tenor of the time and brings to life its subjects. The text is enhanced with powerful expressionistic art crafted from cut paper and silhouettes. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A devastating, uniquely told story that will resonate. (author's and illustrator's notes, soundtrack, glossary, timeline, sources) (Picture-book biography. 8-12)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from October 10, 2022
In an extraordinary volume, Joy’s cadenced prose and Washington’s dimensional cut-paper artwork portray Mamie Till-Mobley’s (1921–2003) life and efforts seeking justice for the brutal murder of her son Emmett Till (1941–1955). After introducing Till’s death, lines flash back to Till-Mobley’s childhood in small-town Illinois. “The first African American to graduate at the top of her class,” she later experiences an abusive marriage and nurses young Till through polio. Both move for new opportunity in Chicago, but Till misses family and space. Despite “an ache deep down in her soul,” she sends him to visit relatives in Mississippi, and his lynching there, and Till-Mobley’s pursuit of justice, has a galvanizing effect on the civil rights movement. Contextualizing endnotes conclude this necessary title whose reiterative refrain characterizes Till-Mobley’s actions as “the harder thing” and “the braver thing/ that changed everything.” Ages 8–12.

Starred review from September 1, 2022
This powerful picture-book biography reverently portrays the life of Mamie Till-Mobley (1921-2003), whose defiant act of bravery following the 1955 murder of her son, Emmett, brought a spiritual essence to -- and helped ignite -- the civil rights movement. Joy's (Black Is a Rainbow Color, rev. 1/20) lyrical free-verse narrative opens on August 31, 1955, when "the sheriff set out to dig a grave...to hide the crime in the mud of Mississippi...But Mamie did the harder thing. She said, 'No. You send my son home.'" The text then goes back to Mamie's childhood outside of Chicago, where the family moved from Mississippi during the Great Migration. She excelled in school, graduating at the top of her class, and later married Louis Till. They had a baby, Emmett, whose bout with polio left him with a stutter. One summer, relatives invited Emmett to spend time with them in Mississippi. Mamie said no, fearful of the Jim Crow South. Although she finally agreed, still, "Sometimes a mother gets a feeling, an ache deep down in her soul -- a warning." The heart of the story is what happens following Emmett's brutal murder. Mamie's resolve not to let her son be forgotten leads her to a crusade of social justice and advocacy -- not only for Emmett but for "sons and daughters still living." Washington's dramatic paper-cut art, featuring bold black-and-white silhouettes and figures on brown backgrounds with blue, brown, and red tissue-paper accents, perfectly captures the courage and dignity of the subject. Rich back matter includes author and illustrator notes, a playlist, a timeline, and a bibliography. Pauletta Brown Bracy

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from January 1, 2023

Gr 2-6-The heartbreaking story of Emmett Till is shared with great emotional depth. Using cut-paper collage and lyrical storytelling, Joy and Washington revive Mamie Till-Mobley's story. The brilliant, loving mother of Emmett was a child of the Great Migration. Mamie and her family moved up from Mississippi to Argo, a Chicago suburb, where the studious girl worked hard to graduate at the top of her class. She married Louis Till, and after a strenuous birth, their only son arrived. Though doctors predicted he would have severe cognitive and motor delays, Mamie insisted on bringing Emmett home. Louis turned violent, and Mamie refused to tolerate the behavior. Now with just his mother and grandmother, Emmett grew into a kind boy who played joyfully in the streets of Argo until he fell ill with polio. The disease left him with a stutter, which his ingenious mother helped him circumvent using a clever trick of stopping when he was stuck on a word and whistling to calm him before he continued speaking. Unfortunately, like Mamie before them, readers are powerless to stop Emmett's fateful trip to Mississippi. They cannot stop Emmett's alleged whistle, the white woman's lie, the white kidnappers' murder, or the jury's unjust verdict. The symbolic red and blue colors in the collage, weaving Mamie and Emmett's lives and stories together, creates a beautiful artistic tapestry. With rich language and a wealth of knowledge in the back matter, this text has depth and usefulness for a broad audience. VERDICT An essential purchase for all libraries.-Abby Bussen

Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 3, 2023
Grades 4-7 *Starred Review* When Mamie Till-Mobley was a child in the 1920s, her family left Mississippi for the relative freedom of the Chicago area. Soon after high school, she married and had a son, Emmett. His father left the family, but she surrounded her child with love and, when he contracted polio, nursed him back to health. In 1955, 14-year-old Emmett left Chicago to visit relatives in Mississippi, where he was brutally murdered. His body, "bruised / scarred / swollen," was recovered from the river and his mother bravely insisted that the sheriff send his remains home. His body was displayed in an open coffin. Later, after sitting in the courtroom while Emmett's murderers were found "not guilty," she courageously began speaking out against racist violence in lectures credited with significantly moving the twentieth-century civil rights movement forward. Joy's text, written in free verse, tells of Emmett Till's death within the context of his mother's love and her determination to work for racial justice. The powerful, distinctive artwork was cut from sheets of black paper to create distinctive portrayals of people and their surroundings, with layers of tissue paper added to bring color, warmth, and coherence to the pages. A moving, memorable picture book.

COPYRIGHT(2023) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022
This powerful picture-book biography reverently portrays the life of Mamie Till-Mobley (1921-2003), whose defiant act of bravery following the 1955 murder of her son, Emmett, brought a spiritual essence to -- and helped ignite -- the civil rights movement. Joy's (Black Is a Rainbow Color, rev. 1/20) lyrical free-verse narrative opens on August 31, 1955, when "the sheriff set out to dig a grave...to hide the crime in the mud of Mississippi...But Mamie did the harder thing. She said, 'No. You send my son home.'" The text then goes back to Mamie's childhood outside of Chicago, where the family moved from Mississippi during the Great Migration. She excelled in school, graduating at the top of her class, and later married Louis Till. They had a baby, Emmett, whose bout with polio left him with a stutter. One summer, relatives invited Emmett to spend time with them in Mississippi. Mamie said no, fearful of the Jim Crow South. Although she finally agreed, still, "Sometimes a mother gets a feeling, an ache deep down in her soul -- a warning." The heart of the story is what happens following Emmett's brutal murder. Mamie's resolve not to let her son be forgotten leads her to a crusade of social justice and advocacy -- not only for Emmett but for "sons and daughters still living." Washington's dramatic paper-cut art, featuring bold black-and-white silhouettes and figures on brown backgrounds with blue, brown, and red tissue-paper accents, perfectly captures the courage and dignity of the subject. Rich back matter includes author and illustrator notes, a playlist, a timeline, and a bibliography.

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)