Featuring creatively skewed perspective and proportion, Alcorn's ( I, Too, Sing America ) oil paintings offer allegorical interpretations of his subjects' lives.' Publishers Weekly 'Engaging text and glorious art are combined in this collection of sketches celebrating the contributions of 10 women who moved forward the cause of civil rights in America.

Pinkney's writing is spiced with colloquialisms ('She didn't shy back for nobody,' she says of Sojourner Truth) and useful imagery (describing this same crusader's delivery of her renowned 'Ain't I a woman?' speech, the author notes, 'She was the only black woman in the place, and when she stepped to the pulpit, some folks looked at her like she was a stain on their purest linens'). Her selection of subjects includes the prominent (Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Rosa Parks and Shirley Chisholm) as well as such lesser-knowns as Fannie Lou Hamer, an indefatigable campaigner for African-Americans' right to vote.

Exploring these individuals' childhoods as well as their accomplishments as adults, the author smoothly distills biographical information so as to hold the attention of young readers.

'Pinkney ( Silent Thunder ) presents eloquent portraits of 10 intrepid African-American activists for the causes of abolition, women's rights and civil rights.

Sit-In by Andrea Davis Pinkney