A wonderfully written, beautifully drawn book. Filled with amazing tales of American history. It doesn't hold back on the truth, but it isn't too graphic for a younger reader.

'Strange Fruit, Volume II: More Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History' by Joel Christian Gill is a graphic novel telling about the lives of 8 African Americans that are little known or forgotten.

The book is wonderfully illustrated and tells the stories in positive ways. I learned about Jourdon Anderson, a former slave who wrote a letter to his former owner after that owner asked him to come back. Mary Fields worked hard, drank hard, and became a postal service contractor. Cathay Williams was a woman who disguised herself as a man so she could fight in the Civil War. There are others, and the stories are all just as amazing.

The art has a really wonderful quality that suits these stories. The stories told are about people who had undoubtedly rough and sad lives, but the focus is on the persistence to overcome those situations. This is a perfect collection of stories for younger readers. I've read another graphic novel by this same author, and I find his work impressive.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Fulcrum Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to read this inspiring graphic novel.

There exist copious stories of Black success in America's history, and this book combines eight of them in simple, clear, all-ages-friendly graphic novel form. It's at pains to point out that success had to come from adversity at times, such as the girl who dressed as a man to become a soldier, or the heroic fighter ace reduced by the USA to being an elevator jockey. Adversity must surely be contained in the case of the two conjoined twins, dressed up and taught their Ps and Qs in front of their mother, who was still their owner's servant. Elsewhere mysterious (but very successful) lawmen sweep into town, clean it of baddies, and vamoose. There's a lot of drama here, all factually conveyed in ideal ways for the school library, and clear enough for many readers to engage with. But the fact remains, unfortunately, that I have read elsewhere in a book very similar to this of the Green Book's use, in a volume that also showed Jim Crow laws being upheld by, well, crows. I like the emoji to hide any form of the n-word, too, but I don't think that's new, either. Perhaps those stories of Black success aren't as copious as I at first thought, if I'm already getting repeats...