about the book
John Roy Lynch was born “half Irish and all slave.” Even though his father was white, he had to spend his whole childhood was spent working on plantations in Louisiana and Mississippi.
Then, when he was a teenager, Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation.
His whole life changed. He—and others like him—could get paying jobs and attend school.
John Roy thrived during the Reconstruction era, while many people in the south were not happy with the social changes.
Eventually he was appointed as justice of the peace and became one of the first African American congressmen. How did John Roy Lynch transform his life in ten years?
about the author
In elementary school, Chris Barton wrote the first story he shared publically: The Ozzie Bros. Meet the Monsters. “Let’s get out of here!” was a recurring piece of dialogue.
Even though he was always writing—and was even on the staff of his university’s newspaper— Chris never really thought about becoming an author until he was a parent. His toddler enjoyed the story of how he installed a smoke detector, complete with sound effects and plot, so much that he was asked to tell the story over and over again.
Now Chris uses his degree in history to bring little-known stories to kids. Some of his titles include The Day-Glo Brothers, The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch, and The Nutcracker Comes to America. Not all of his books are historical in nature. Shark vs. Train is just plain silly.
Chris lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife, four kids, and dog. If he’s not writing and researching, he can be found cooking, listening to music, and going for long walks and runs.
Sources:
Author website
Author interview: Eerdlings
Author interview: BookPeople
Author interview: Laurie Ann Thompson
Also by Chris Barton:
Whoosh! : Lonnie Johnson’s Super Stream of Ideas. Charlesbridge Publishing. May 2016.
The Nutcracker Comes to America : How Three Ballet-Loving Brothers Created a Holiday Tradition. Millbrook Press. 2015.
Attack! Boss! Cheat Code! : A Gamer’s Alphabet. Pow! 2014.
The Day-Glo Brothers : The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors. Charlesbridge Publishing. 2009.
about the illustrator
An extremely creative child, Don Tate went through several creative phases: macramé (tying knots to make textiles instead of weaving or knitting), copper enameling, clay, puppets, and finally figure drawing. In high school, when all the guys were trying to perfect their free-throw, Don was perfecting his drawing skills.
After receiving an associate’s degree in applied art from Des Moines Area Community College, Don worked as a graphics reporter at the Des Moines Register and Austin American-Statesman newspapers. He was also the art director of an advertising and market research firm. However, he’s now a full-time book illustrator and author.
The first book he illustrated, Say Hey: A Song of Willie Mays, was a biography about a baseball star. It was the first manuscript that was offered to him. Even though he’s never been a sports person, he accepted the job because he was desperate and determined to get a book published and have it in bookstores. He would have accepted practically any manuscript to accomplish this goal!
While illustrating The Cart That Carried Martin, the thing he worried about most was showing Martin Luther King, Jr.’s coffin. Coffins scare Don. He gets a sick feeling in his stomach and quickly looks away, so he assumed most kids feel this way. Eventually, he came to the realization that the coffin wouldn’t be scary in this book because the crowd surrounding it is so full of love.
He is one of the founding hosts of the blog The Brown Bookshelf, which is a blog dedicated to books for African American young readers. It contains book reviews, as well as author and illustrator interviews.
Even though Don doesn’t like sports, he is a “gym-rat.” He’s even competed in natural, drug-free bodybuilding.
Don currently lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and son.
Sources:
Illustrator website
Illustrator interview: Cynthia Leitich Smith
Illustrator interview: Writing With a Broken Tusk
Illustrator biography: Wikipedia
Also by Don Tate:
Whoosh! : Lonnie Johnson’s Super Stream of Ideas by Chris Barton. Charlesbridge Publishing. May 2016.
The Cart That Carried Martin by Eve Bunting. Charlesbridge Publishing. 2013.
Duke Ellington’s Nutcracker Suite by Anna Harwell Celenza. Charlesbridge Publishing. 2011.
She Loved Baseball : The Effa Manley Story by Audrey Vernick. Balzer + Bray. 2010.
read more!
The Cart That Carried Martin by Eve Bunting
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a humble man. So how could his funeral, which was drawing tens of thousands of mourners to line the streets, possibly reflect his humility? By having the reverend’s body pulled on an old cart by two donkeys. What other aspects of King’s character shine through the grief of all those gathered to honor him?
The Day-Glo Brothers : The True Story of Bob and Joe Switzer’s Bright Ideas and Brand-New Colors by Chris Barton
Two very different brothers and their experiments left the world a brighter place—literally! Bob was a planner who wanted to be a doctor. Joe was a magician and problem-solver. After an accident left Bob recovering in a dark basement, the two boys needed to do something to pass the time, so they experimented with fluorescent paint and ultraviolet light. What did they invent that you see every day?
Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco
Wounded Union soldier Sheldon “Say” Curtis was pulled and carried to shelter after being left for dead. His savior: Pinkus, a black man wearing Union colors. But the two soldiers aren’t safe yet—Confederate troops are still pursuing them!