I enjoyed this graphic novel and recommend it for anyone who wants to read more about important black historical figures. The language is very accessible which makes the comic perfectly readable for any age range. Moreover, the art was had a clean aesthetic and was pleasing to the eye.

I must admit I haven't read volume one before requesting this title, but now I definitely will! I had never heard of a lot of these stories which is what makes this book so important. The art is beautiful and having this easy approach to learning is exactly why I will be recommending this series to my library patrons!

Really enjoyed learning more about these people. Want to go read the first book now. Would recommend to a friend.

Beautifully illustrated and wonderfully written, this is a must-have book for schools, libraries and homeschools. So glad these books are being written.

This graphic novel, which highlights untold stories from Black history, is really great.

I didn’t read the first volume, although I have always meant to, but as it’s really an anthology, you can pick up any volume.

The stories are fascinating and moving, and I love how the art and text work together. I also love little details like how he refuses to use slurs and instead puts a little icon of a minstrel-show-esque face to bleep them out. It’s a good combination of inspiring and also not leaving out the bad or less-good stuff for the sake of *only* being inspiring.

Thanks to Netgalley for the digital copy!

Strange Fruit is a superb anthology of telling the stories of overlooked black Americans. Having not read Strange Fruit 1, this book reminded me very much of Brazen: Rebel Ladies Who Rocked the World by Penelope Bagieu. I loved that book. While Strange Fruit doesn’t soar to quite the same heights of Bagieu’s Eisner award winner, it accomplishes what it seeks out to do expertly.

The comic anthology is a smart way of telling stories about people that, most of the figures in this book I had not heard of before. All of them have fascinating stories and that their narratives aren’t better known is a shame.

As with all anthologies, there are weaker sections, the Cathy William’s section seemed to me to be underdone. Another weakness is the art. I found it adequate for the most part, but it only really excelled in the Willie Kennard, and Tom Wiggins. To my eyes, some of the facial designs across all the characters were similar. This wasn’t helped by the colouring, which was uniform throughout, it might have helped to choose different tones for each era or figure. Anthologies for all their strengths do have the inherent weakness of not being able to explore the tales in depth.

That said I would very much recommend this book. The writing and dialogue effortlessly carry you into the lives that these people lived and it certainly sparked an interest in my to find out more about them. The stories of these black Americans are fascinating and Strange Fruit does a fantastic job of bringing them into the light.

I really enjoyed this book. I have recently become a fan of comics and enjoyed learning about black history through comics. This book highlighted unsung heros of black history that are not well known. I can’t wait to purchase this book and share it with my nephews. It is a great and easy way to teach black history to young people.

I received a DRC of this book courtesy of NetGalley. #28daysarenotenough #NetGalley

This was published in 2018, but I just found it on netgalley. This is a good introduction to eight African American history figures you may not have heard about. The short stories are presented in graphic novel style and there is a bibliography for additional reading.

Original,funny and important.
First off,this is an extremely important ownvoices book. Secondly,it is one of the best graphic novels I've ever come across. And lastly,the stories are fun and original. Totally recommended.

I enjoyed reading this book. It was awesome to learn about figures in Black history that I had yet to learn about. I like that it is a graphic novel because I feel that it makes the material even more appealing. I would definitely suggest this book for teachers to have in their classroom or for anyone looking to learn more Black history.

Enjoyed the artwork and lettering for this graphic novel. Especially enjoyed the folkloresque delivery of the stories, which conveys the universality of the individual heroes. My favorites were "Nevertheless, She Persisted and "The Green Book for the Negro Motorist," which is especially timely.

Informative and adorable.read. Each story was unique and the illustrated format worked well. A wonderful historical- graphic novel.

A compilation of ‘Did You Know’, biographical stories reflecting historical facts of African American individuals and their role in the untold stories in everyday life of American history, justifying the hashtag #28daysarenotenough

Read this all in one sitting as it was both riveting and extremely easy to read. This was the perfect read for this times, too. Here we were introduced to the life stories of 8 African Americans unwritten about in the usual history books but well worth highlighting for their perseverance to overcome extreme adversity in the 1800s and 1900s. I love a good historical graphic novel as it brings to life stories that some might otherwise never encounter!

Fabulous and accessible graphic novel about some Black stories you might not have heard before. The stories are cited (which makes my historian heart happy) and are nicely illustrated. I also appreciated that the text is straightforward and gives space to the images. Will be checking out the 1st volume now too!

this was really interesting. I didn't read the first column but it wasn't too confusing to catch up, although will check out the first one now.

Incredibly important series about lesser-known important Black-Americans and the influences they have made on society. Highly recommended for teaching black history all year long.

Unfortunately, I didn't have access to the book that preceded this volume, but that didn't interfere with the reading, because they are built from independent stories retold by the author.
That said, I want to express that this book is a gift for those who like stories passed on orally, mainly because many of them weren't present in the "Official History" that we learned.

With regard to Afro-American culture, I'd like to say that, although the book is about the history of the African people in North America, in Brazil (my country of origin) this is also recurring, here they also have their stories denied in the official speech

So, for me, it was very important to have access to this book and these small fragments of life. It's important that we begin to give value and voice to these stories and, as the author pointed out, not only in February (in the case of Brazil, November) and not only now that this subject is so present in the media. We must speak and let black people have their space of speech always!


And what about the illustrations in this book and all the design? Simply perfect.

Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a review. Opinions are my own. This middle grade graphic novel tells the biographies of 8 African American historical figures. I especially liked that a few disabled and neurodivergent people were included because their historical contributions are often downplayed or ignored. When white characters used racist slurs, the word in the speech bubbles were replaced with a caricature that looked like a gollywog. I don't know if that was necessary or even an improvement, but I found it to be thought-provoking and an innovate use of the medium. I generally thought the historical analysis was nuanced, but when it came to Tom Wiggins and Cathay Williams, it seemed like their experiences were flattened in order to offer an uplifting story. The biography talked of Tom Wiggins' skill and renown but didn't explicitly call out the ableism and dehumanization that undergirded the praise he received, which I think leaves out a big part of his story. I think it's important to explicitly name because it may not be taught in school and young readers may not recognize it for themselves. Cathay Williams' legacy as a Buffalo soldier is of mixed merit given their role in dispossessing Native Americans of their land, and the author didn't provide details of what exactly she did during her enlistment. I thought that the author generally did a good job of balancing the difficulties and complexities of the lives of those included, but I felt it fell flat in some cases. A good, memorable start for learning some more obscure African American history.

This graphic novel tells incredible stories of unsung African-American heroes. The text is readable and perfect for middle school students, and the illustrations provide students with context for the stories. After reading this graphic novel, I wanted to know more about the people mentioned and dive deeper into their stories. This book will definitely be included in my classroom library.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC of this book!