This picture-book biography covers basic information about Wells' life: her birth in slavery in 1862; her outstanding ability as a student; and her work as a teacher, journalist, and crusader. Myers' masterful text is well matched by Christensen's somber watercolor illustrations: neither soft-pedals the injustice and cruelty to African Americans. Wells' stand against lynching and the peril in which that put her are covered, but there are no graphic scenes in the illustrations. The explanations of some complex topics, such as suffrage, are seamlessly woven into the narrative, while others r instance, segregation e not. What will come across to young readers, however, is how she helped make America a better place. Quotes from Wells' autobiography are placed throughout, and a time line of the major aspects of her life is included. A fine introduction.

This picture book biography presents, for a younger audience, an understandable and compelling picture of a remarkable woman. Though the subject is exciting, Myers's tone is fairly sedate, but, set in red type, quotes from Wells and others add energy. Christensen's ink and watercolor pictures do a good job of capturing the time and place through clothing and other details. Timeline.

In spite of adversity, or because of it, Ida B. Wells served as a catalyst in the civil-rights movement. Wells was born three years before slavery's abolition; when her parents and brother succumbed to yellow fever, she turned to teaching and writing, personally experiencing racism's harsh realities. As a businesswoman and suffragette, Wells spoke against hatred's social and legal ramifications, and her words garnered an international audience when her businessmen friends were lynched. Often, this picture-book biography relies powerfully on Wells's own passionate words to tell her story: "In the past ten years over a thousand black men and women and children have met this violent death at the hands of a white mob. And the rest of America has remained silent." Christensen's swirling lines and colors blend, depicting her subject's determination; the illustrations vary in composition, but vigorous cross-hatching provides texture and mood throughout. The design sets the staunch advocate's quotations off from Myers's accessible account, printing them in a typeface as bold as their speaker. (timeline) (Picture book/biography. 7-10)

Gr 3-6 Wells was born into slavery in 1862 in Mississippi. Myers follows her remarkable life from raising her siblings after the death of her parents, to her rise to national fame as a writer and speaker who worked tirelessly on behalf of African Americans and suffrage, and against the horrors of lynching. Throughout the book, her words, taken mostly from her autobiography, The Crusade for Justice , are highlighted in bold text and emphasize her strength of character and commitment to justice: "I'd rather go down in history as one lone Negro who dared to tell the government that it has done a dastardly thing than to save my skin by taking back what I have said." Readers will learn that long before Rosa Parks made history on a Montgomery bus, Wells refused to move from the ladies' coach on a train, was forcibly removed, then sued the railroad. Christensen's detailed and historically accurate watercolor illustrations bring the story of this amazingly accomplished and courageous woman to life. An important and inspiring book. Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI