Gr 7 Up-This book brings welcome attention to Hughes's 1936 poem. "I am the poor white, fooled and pushed apart,/I am the Negro bearing slavery's scars./I am the red man driven from the land,/I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek-/And finding only the same old stupid plan/Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak." Many will see parallels with today's society in this long but accessible poem that presents a broad, clear-eyed view of the American experience, which is sometimes bitter but never defeated or hopeless. A foreword by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., offers an eloquent account of Hughes's life and career. Initially published as a limited-edition artist's book, the text is paired with Frasconi's powerful woodcuts. His faces are especially moving, with expressions that are at once individual and universal. In keeping with the mood of the poem, the overall tone of the art is dark. The typeface used throughout, even in Gates's introduction, is rough and occasionally not thoroughly legible against the somber backgrounds, but it helps considerably that the poem is reprinted on a plain white background at the end of the book. Show this to a good junior or senior high school language-arts or history teacher-it may need some introduction and guidance, but it will be worth the effort.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.