A sweeping, poetic, and genealogical look at how family was defined and unraveled through enslavement, Carole Boston Weatherford's novel in verse explores her own journey toward finding her ancestors, alongside the gut-wrenching, detailed scratchboard artwork of her son. How can one trace their family history from a portrait hanging in a living room to a slave ship bobbing off the coast? Through historical records and Weatherford's rhythmic, imaginative style, her ancestors come to life, as does the reader's journey through time, from plantation to plantation, through historical moments and quiet afternoons in the Wye House. Weatherford's work here help build a bridge from the Door of No Return to a place of hope for generations to come an impressive feat that nicely supplements any nonfiction work on the Middle Passage through the Civil War. The stark line illustrations on alternating black and white pages are a searing accompaniment to the verse, bringing these figures out of the darkness and deepening the humanity that glows in the pages. For fans of Kwame Alexander, Ashley Bryan, and Faith Ringgold.

From a single photograph and sparse information to a fully realized lineage of excellence, an African American author, with dramatic illustrations by her son, traces their family's roots. Carole Boston Weatherford (Standing in the Need of Prayer, rev. 9/22) deftly weaves a myriad of locations, entities, and mindsets into her imaginative and moving chronicle. Personification poems introduce various locations she visited, such as the Chesapeake Bay ("Surely as I spill into the Atlantic, the current / of greed swept me into the triangular trade") and Wye House plantation in Maryland ("I witness more cruelty than I care to recall / the sin of slavery haunts my every hall"). Most powerful are the poems that give her ancestors a voice. From brief mentions in enslavers' ledgers and other historical documents, Weatherford gives life to kin such as "Nanny / Nancy / Nan Copper, House Servant (born c. 1763)" and Isaac Copper, an elder who taught younger enslaved people Bible verses -- among them, Frederick Douglass. Jeffery Boston Weatherford's (illustrator of Call Me Miss Hamilton, rev. 3/22) scratchboard and digital black-and-white renderings match the poems' intensity, with the compositions' points of view being as dynamic and varied as the styles of verse. Fans of Bryan's Freedom over Me (rev. 11/16) and Nelson's Heart and Soul (rev. 11/11) will appreciate this extensively researched and deeply felt genealogical exploration. Appended with an author's note, an illustrator's note (unseen), and a comprehensive bibliography. Eboni Njoku

The lineage of a Black family comes to life through powerful poems.Embarking on genealogical research can be daunting but thrilling. But that is not always the case for many Black families, their heritage interrupted by the enslavement of their ancestors and marred by the atrocities they endured. Carole Boston Weatherford invites readers to explore the past through her own family's history. Beginning with her adolescent indifference and, later, her determined curiosity, she lays the groundwork for how the Lloyd family's Wye House, in Maryland, came to be the site of mass cruelty. While the Lloyds passed down property, positions, and people as they amassed wealth, the enslaved began losing parts of their legacies. Writing chronologically, the author pieces together the history of enslavement, her strength and resolve palpable as she tells of her family's triumphs despite the conditions they were forced to bear. Raw, stark, digitally rendered scratchboard illustrations multiply the depth of her profound words. The imagined thoughts of Weatherford's kin and the personification of the things-among them Wye House and the Chesapeake Bay-that "witnessed" generations of enslavement will give readers a new perspective and inspire questions similar to those she intersperses throughout.A striking work that reshapes the narrative around enslavement. (author's and illustrator's notes, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 9-18)

The Weatherfords—a mother-son duo—pay tribute to their enslaved ancestors’ pain and resilience across generations in this moving collection of illustrated poems, inspired by Alex Haley’s Roots. Hoping to learn more about her family history, the author attempts to trace her lineage to its beginnings. In 2016, while traveling to Gorée, an island off the coast of Dakar, Senegal, Weatherford and her son visit “slave castles”—trading posts where “captive Africans/ were held for weeks, months,/ until their numbers could fill/ a ship’s belly.” From there, the two embark on a journey that takes them to the Wye House Plantation in Easton, Md., where their ancestors were enslaved by the Lloyds, a white Quaker family. Throughout, poems showcase various perspectives, including those of the creators’ forebears, the enslaving family, and a ship carrying captives. While this narrative range can sometimes cause confusion, it nevertheless makes for a layered text that highlights the perseverance of the Weatherfords’ ancestors and the horrors that they endured. Sketch-like b&w line illustrations depict key moments within the narrative. By sharing their family’s story, the Weatherfords craft a harrowing and motivational addition to enslaved peoples’ history. Ages 10–up. (Sept.)

Gr 5 Up —Weatherford and her son have created a poetic meditation on the process of researching ancestry, with a specific focus on those who are descended from those who were enslaved. Told in many voices, these poems tell the story of a long line of individuals who were removed from Senegal and taken to the Chesapeake Bay. The Weatherfords imagine the lives of those who couldn't have recorded their own as they weave together a narrative of their ancestors. Poems include chilling information drawn from primary sources, including inventory documents that placed a value on human lives. These sections are evocative of similar sections in Julius Lester's Day of Tears . The poem "Partus Sequitur Ventrem/Offspring Follows Belly" introduces the concept that during this time babies born to enslaved women were also slaves. Dramatic scratchboard illustrations throughout the book allow the tone of the poems to switch swiftly from lighter to darker topics, using design to prepare readers for some of the more difficult content. Author's and illustrator's notes provide context, and a bibliography offers sources for additional research. VERDICT A unique book that will be appreciated by the right readers, especially those familiar with Kwame Alexander's The Door of No Return .—Kristin L. Anderson