Mrs. Chambers Lazio’s Classroom Edit display name

About my class

Students today need a radically different exposure to literature. They need to feel that what they spend their time reading is engaging, but more so that it is important. Congressman and Civil Rights activist John Lewis’s novel will meet both of those needs. March: Book Three is the final installation in a memoir graphic novel series. In the first books of the series, Congressman Lewis focuses on the lunch counter sit-ins and the freedom riders. All books are exemplary, but through Book Three, Congressman Lewis tells the extraordinary story of voting rights and Selma. While students learn about this movement in school, I often find that few students know any of the important people in this movement beyond Dr. King and Rosa Parks. This novel will teach children about the key figures in the movement as well as the struggles they went through to make life better for so many. As a graphic novel, this text is a less traditional format that will capture the interest of reluctant readers. The March series is one the most frequently checked out books in my class library, and I have often found that students thoroughly enjoy graphic novels like Persepolis and Maus. Additionally, this text is meant for young adults and is highly acclaimed, having won many awards, including the Printz Award and the Coretta Scott King Author Award. March: Book Three has also won the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature, making it the first graphic novel to win a National Book Award. By donating to this project, you will enable students to become more educated about the Civil Rights Movement through an engaging medium that will inspire students to have a deeper enjoyment of both history and literature. As Art Spiegelman once said, “Comics are a gateway drug to literacy.”