Momma's Going to March

Written by Jennifer Maruno

Illustrated by Vivian Rosas

Groundwood Books

978-1-77306-551-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-6

August 2024

Protest marches have long been a part of history. They are a kind of activism that can inspire change. In a series of vignettes through different periods of time, Jennifer Maruno and Vivian Rosas show us protest marches that brought mother and child out to fight for positive societal change. 

 

In  the first spreads, a mother and her daughter prepare signs for their march for freedom. It's a march for a myriad of civil rights, from voting and integrated schools and decent housing. It's a 1960s march by Black Americans for recognition of their equal rights and the racial discrimination they continued to endure.

From Momma's Going to March, written by Jennifer Maruno, illustrated by Vivian Rosas

Then in the late 1970s, a child and her momma, both dressed in white, join a march for equality, advocating for the ERA (Equal Rights Amendment), emboldened to fight for equal rights for women, from voting to employment. 

From Momma's Going to March, written by Jennifer Maruno, illustrated by Vivian Rosas

There's a pro-peace and anti-war march, sadly one which we must repeat with each new conflict. There is one advocating for clean water in Indigenous communities, and another for the environment by initiating a global climate strike. In each case, a mother and child head out to march to encourage positive change.

From Momma's Going to March, written by Jennifer Maruno, illustrated by Vivian Rosas

Jennifer Maruno's message of "march, March, MARCH" is loud and clear, and she adds to that message with notes about what makes a march, like signs and clothing, flags and banners, as well as identifying the historical marches represented in her story. In each case, her emphasis is on the relationship between mother and child, with one inspiring the other to do good by fighting for something important. It may be promoting social justice or bringing attention to causes too often neglected or unanswered but it's always about doing something. Whether it's walking or carrying a sign, riding in a wagon or shouting slogans, these mommas and their ones are community activists at a grass roots level.

Vivian Rosas, the Toronto artist who also illustrated Queer History A to Z: 100 Years of LGBTQ+ Activism, seems to have found a social justice niche for her art, though I suspect her style is equally effective across all genres. Her digital illustrations, though, strongly support diverse communities, depicting people of all ages, ethnicities, races, abilities, and more, making for inclusive marches and encouraging empowerment. Moreover, Vivian Rosas's vibrant colours and strong shapes lend themselves to Jennifer Maruno's messaging about standing up and marching for important causes.

 

Mommas, and Pappas and little sisters and big brothers and everyone, have always marched to do right and make people see and hear what needs to be done. Now, with Jennifer Maruno and Vivian Rosas's story of Momma's Going to March, young readers can see the big impact a little marching can kickoff.

Meet Jim Egan (Scholastic Canada Biography)

Written by Elizabeth MacLeod

Illustrated by Mike Deas

Scholastic Canada

978-1-4431-9725-0

32 pp.

Ages 6-9

May 2024

 

I didn't know who Jim Egan was. But, like all Elizabeth MacLeod and Mike Deas's books in this illustrated biography series from Scholastic Canada, Meet Jim Egan gives readers the opportunity to be introduced to extraordinary Canadians and learn of their historical impact in civil rights, athletics, science, business, the arts, activism, and more. With a season of Pride starting in June for several Canadian provinces, including the two in which Jim Egan lived, it is only fitting to celebrate the life of this LGBTQ+ activist now.

From Meet Jim Egan, written by Elizabeth MacLeod, illustrated by Mike Deas

Jim Egan was born in 1921 Toronto. He enjoyed many things, like science and nature and reading, but he figured out that he liked boys, not girls. When he had to leave school at age sixteen, rather than pursue a career in medicine, he took on a variety of jobs, from farm work and working in a lab, to joining the merchant marines during World War II. It was during this last endeavour, travelling around the world to transport soldiers and supplies, that Jim Egan discovered places where gay men could gather and be themselves. For the first time, he realized he was not alone in his feelings for other men.

From Meet Jim Egan, written by Elizabeth MacLeod, illustrated by Mike Deas

But, in many parts of the world, and certainly in Canada at that time, being gay was illegal. Fearing arrest and rejection from their families, their friends, their employers, and even landlords, many kept this part of their lives secret. But there were places where they could feel safe, and it was at one such place in 1948 that Jim Egan met his future life partner Jack Nesbit.

As a reader, Jim had always realized the discrimination that gay people endured but he was especially unhappy with the hurtful language used against LGBTQ+ people. He started writing letters to magazines and papers to educate them about gay people. It took a few years before his writing would be published but he got people talking and thinking about them. This started his activism and fight for gay rights, including his biggest fight: the right for equality in spousal recognition for gay couples. Gay people could not marry, adopt children, or receive government financial support like old age security as spouses. After being together with Jack for almost 40 years, Jim knew they had a new fight on their hands.

From Meet Jim Egan, written by Elizabeth MacLeod, illustrated by Mike Deas

Although the two men had been together for over 50 years when they died in 2000, they never saw the landmark changes that Jim's activism pushed to happen, like making same-sex marriage legal in 2005. Still, Jim Egan's drive for equal rights for gay people was instrumental in making others aware of gay people and their right to equality.

From Meet Jim Egan, written by Elizabeth MacLeod, illustrated by Mike Dea

Elizabeth MacLeod may give us the salient facts of Jim Egan's life, from his birth and employment, as well as milestones in LGBTQ+ history in Canada–see the timeline of his life complete with photographs–but she always keeps the heart of the man and his drive for equality at the center of his story. It is clear that Jim Egan was a passionate and sensitive individual who cared deeply for his partner and for equal rights for gay persons, and he had the determination to try to make things happen. Without his efforts, people would not have had the conversations about gay people and the baby steps towards legal equality would not have been possible.

 

As always, Mike Deas's illustrations keep a lightness to a life's story that is rife with struggles. His technique of blending digital with traditional media–sketches created digitally were painted with watercolour and gouache on watercolour paper and inked with black lines–easily takes us from a farm to the city, from the 1940s to the late 1990s. We see communities of gay people together but separate, embraced but also shunned, as well as the worlds in which Jim Egan lived and fought for his right to be himself and with his partner.

 

Meet Jim Egan is another wonderful addition to Elizabeth MacLeod and Mike Deas's Scholastic Canada Biography, now totalling thirteen books. As always, they've introduced us to a significant Canadian whose story reminds us that doing the right thing for yourself and others may not be easy or always fruitful but it's always the best thing to do.

 

Meet Viola Desmond (2018)
Meet Chris Hadfield (2018)
Meet Tom Longboat (2019)
Meet Elsie MacGill (2019)
Meet Willie O'Ree (2020)
Meet Terry Fox (2020)
Meet Thérèse Casgrain (2021)
Meet David Suzuki (2021)
Meet Mary Ann Shadd (2022)
Meet J. Armand Bombardier (2022)
Meet Buffy Sainte-Marie (2023)

Meet Clara Hughes (2024)

Meet Jim Egan (2024)

 

Elijah of Buxton

Written by Christopher Paul Curtis

Scholastic Press

9780439936477 

288 pp.

Ages 9-12

2007

Eleven-year-old Elijah Freeman is the first free child born in Buxton, Ontario, a town of slaves who have escaped from the United States.  His days are filled with fishing by throwing stones, going to school, staying away from snakes (of which he is deathly afraid) and continuing to run into the Preacher, a sweet-talking but manipulative man, who gets Elijah involved in more than one of his schemes. But when the Preacher steals all the hard-earned money that Mr. Leroy was saving to buy his wife and two children out of slavery, Elijah, a boy of innocence and a strong sense of fairness, finds himself heading across the border and into the world of slavers and those seeking freedom in Canada. His ma might call him "fra-gile" but Elijah proves that he is anything but.

Though Elijah of Buxton is a book of a harrowing journey into America by a black youth looking to right a wrong, it only becomes a perilous adventure in the last third of the book.  Christopher Paul Curtis takes time to set the stage for that venture, establishing his characters and cultural landscape through the complexity of voice and atmosphere.  Elijah's interactions with others in his community, both peers and those "growned-up," speak to the changing times, when racism could be overt or concealed and the divide between the United States and Canada was both conspicuous and subtle.

Elijah of Buxton begs to be read aloud to get the full nuance of language and tone that Christopher Paul Curtis instills in the narration and dialogue, just as he has in The Madman of Piney Woods and The Journey of Little Charlie.  The dialect can seem confusing at times but read aloud the text becomes rich and flavourful.

There are many difficult moments in Elijah of Buxton, times when my heart broke and I struggled to read on.  Not because the book wasn't an outstanding piece of literature but because of the injustices and horrors endured.   Mind you, even Christopher Paul Curtis's ending left me sobbing and still hopeful for a baby, for Elijah and for all. Christopher Paul Curtis had just set up the “most beautifullest, most perfectest” story he could.

••••••••••••••••••

Though I rarely review books not published in the past year, my recent review of The Journey of Little Charlie compelled me to review Christopher Paul Curtis's earlier books that reference the town of Buxton, The Madman of Piney Woods and now Elijah of Buxton.  These books are not a series, though Buxton is mentioned in each.  Please read them all.

As a Boy

by Plan International

Second Story Press

98-1-77260-016-2

24 pp.

Ages 5-9

September 2016

I don’t know why we always seem to set up competitions between boys and girls, or separate them into teams that are boys versus girls.  There may be pockets (sometimes very large ones) around the world that feel the need to treat boys and girls differently and separately, justifying that attitude with archaic ideas from religion or culture.  But As a Boy, which launches today, demonstrates that boys can be just as supportive of girls’ rights as girls have needed to be and the book does so in a superbly photographed fashion with simple but prophetic statements of encouragement and defense.

Beginning with a cheerful spread of a dozen photos of babies whose gender is impossible to discern, As a Boy recognizes that being a boy or a girl is simply a matter of chance.  For the boys, choices will be both presumed and provided as opportunities.  While there are opportunities that boys are very fortunate to have, like education, it’s not all glory as there are expectations to being a man.  However, the boys in these photographs from across the globe, photos of boys with other boys, with girls, as fathers, as brothers and sons, recognize that all children need “to be free to choose what they want to be” (pg. 17) and that “As boys, we can stand up for everyone” (pg. 23). What a powerful message of advocacy for the rights of all to choose.

Perhaps a companion book to Plan International’s earlier Because I am a Girl: I Can Change the World (Second Story Press, 2014) or Every Day is Malala Day (Second Story Press, 2014), As a Boy has its own lesson of advocacy to share.  The message is dominant but it wouldn’t have the impact it does if not for the diversity of photographs taken of babies, boys, girls, and families from around the world.  Every child is here, as they should be, given the opportunity to shine with life and chances and choices.  As a Boy lets the world know that this is the way it should be.