Dark Was the Night

Blind Willie Johnson's Journey to the Stars

Nancy Paulsen Books (Penguin Random House)

(pub. 8.25.2020) 

32 pages 

A True Tale with

A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Gary Golio
       and illustrator:  E.B. Lewis

 
C haracter:  Willie Johnson

O verview:

       

    "Willie Johnson loved to sing and play guitar. He went blind when he was young, but that didn't stop him from traveling all over Texas to perform on street corners and in small  churches. The unique way he  played slide guitar - with a penknife - gave  the instrument a voice of its own, and paired with his own raspy singing, he created an unforgettable sound...

     This powerful story introduces young readers to an influential musician who helped people find light and hope in their lives. Along with pieces by Bach, Beethoven, and the sound of a human heart, Willie Johnson's evocative 'Dark Was the Night' was chosen to represent humanity on the historic Golden Record, carried into space by the Voyager I."

T antalizing taste: 

     "In a dark quiet room, your voice poured into a microphone, slid down some wires, and scratched itself onto a wax disc. The record caught you breathing, singing, and moving your knife along those steel strings.

     It was the sound of one human being reaching out to all the others, telling them not to be afraid of the dark.

     After all, if a blind man could see the light ..."

And something more:  The back matter of Dark Was the Night discusses the background of The Golden Record time capsule sent out into space in 1977: "On August 25, 2012, Voyager I  - traveling through space at 38,000 miles per hour - became the first human-made object to leave our  solar system and journey so far from Earth.  On it is the song of a blind man, someone who knew both light and darkness, bearing a message of hope to the stars themselves."

Girl Running

Bobbi Gibb and the
Boston Marathon

Nancy Paulsen Books
(Penguin Young Reader Group)

(pub. 2.6.2018)
32 pages

A True Tale with
A Cherry On Top   

A uthor: Annette Bay Pimentel
    and illustrator: Micha Archer

C haracter: Bobbi Gibb

O verview from the jacket flap: 

     "The inspiring story of the first female Boston Marathon runner.
     Because Bobbi Gibb is a girl, she's not allowed to run on her school's track team. But after school, no one can stop her - and she runs to her heart's content. She is told she can't run again when she tries to enter the Boston Marathon in 1966, because women are just not considered capable of running such a long distance. So what does Bobbi do? She bravely sets out to prove the naysayers wrong and show the world just what a girl can do.
     This fascinating piece of history is brought to vivid life in stunning collages. Bobbi's story will inspire readers, who will cheer her on for her passion, talent, and persistence."

T antalizing taste: 
      

     "When Bobbi crosses the finish line on her bleeding feet, the crowd goes wild! The first woman has run the Boston Marathon!
     It has taken her three hours and twenty minutes. She comes in 124th. Two hundred ninety-one men are still huffing and puffing their way to the finish lie.
     Cameras click.
     Reporters scribble in their notebooks.
     Even the governor of Massachusetts has come to the finish line to shake Bobbi's hand.
     However, race officials refuse to give Bobbi a medal.
     They insist that rules are rules.
     But Bobbi has shown that it's time for some rules to change."

 
and something more: In the Afterword, Annette Bay Pimentel explains that after Bobbi Gibb first ran the Boston Marathon in 1966, she "ran the marathon again in 1967 and 1968, each time without official sanction and each time with more unofficial female runners competing against her. Women were not officially allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon until 1972.
     In 1996, Gibb was finally officially recognized as the female winner of the 1966, 1967, and 1968 Boston Marathons and her name was added to the list of winners inscribed on a monument at Copley Square in Boston."