Starred Review In this haunting story, Bryan recalls his experiences during WWII. His draft notice arrived when he was a 19-year-old student at Cooper Union. Since childhood, he had drawn the world around him, and he continued to sketch throughout the war, using his gas mask to hold his pencils and his art to help him "survive the brutality" around him. Growing up in Brooklyn, Byran, who is Black, had known racial prejudice but not segregation, which he encountered in the Army. His battalion served in Boston and Glasgow before facing the horrors of war on Omaha Beach. Throughout those years, he continued to draw and write letters. The letters combine with Bryan's thoughtful text to form a vivid, personal narrative. Similarly, the sketches are accompanied by later paintings as well as black-and-white photos of the times and the places mentioned. Sometimes the drawings overlay the photos in intriguing ways. Color is used sparingly and effectively throughout the volume. Bryan's expressive use of words and art is all the more powerful as he recalls acts of kindness as well as the segregation and racism that persisted throughout the war and even after its end. A beloved artist and writer reflects on his war and how he coped with it, by "drawing, drawing, drawing."

This stirring visual memoir of WWII is a personal departure for Bryan (Freedom Over Me), an artist best known for his vibrantly illustrated folktales and poetry for children. Drafted during 1943, his third year at Cooper Union, Bryan found the U.S. Army segregated in baffling and infuriating ways. Barred from most meaningful work, soldiers of color were limited to service as custodians and laborers. They sat at the backs of buses while German POWs laughed and joked up front. Despite the injustice, Bryan used every spare minute to grow as an artist, and with his supplies stashed with his gas mask, he drew and drew, even under threat of punishment: -the harder it was to draw, the more important it was to do it!- Bryan-s own drawings and paintings, letters to his college friend Eva (-I-m really writing you Eva now to cheer me up-), wartime photographs, and text combine in generous, beautifully designed spreads to produce a multimedia experience on each page. Illuminating, disturbing, and ultimately triumphant, this account of WWII, as seen through the eyes of a soldier of color and an artist of extraordinary power, is a precious resource for readers of all ages. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)