Review: HEART AND SOUL: THE STORY OF AMERICA AND AFRICAN AMERICANS by Kadir Nelson

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Nelson, Kadir. 2011. Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. Balzer & Bray. ISBN-10: 0061730742

2. PLOT SUMMARY

Heart and Soul by Kadir Nelson is a story of African American history, told from the viewpoint of an un-named narrator whose “Pap” was kidnapped from his family as a young child, and came to America aboard a slave ship. The narrator tells the story through the eyes of her Grandfather, and his memories about growing up a slave, living through the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the fight for equality. She describes the history of African Americans and their struggles for equal rights and treatment in America in a first person narrative. The narrator talks about the important contributions of black Americans to our society. The narrator tells of the many changes and conflicts during her lifetime, including wars, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. She was there when women earned the right to vote for the first time and lived to cast her vote for the first black president of the United States. In the words of the narrator: “We have come a mighty long way, honey, but we still have a ways to go…”

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Heart and Soul by award-winning author and illustrator Kadir Nelson is an historical fiction re-telling of the story of “America and African Americans” through the eyes of “Everywoman”, the unnamed narrator. Heart and Soul relates the strength and courage of Everywoman’s ancestors, as well as the struggles against slavery and injustice. The time-period covered by this book is vast. While the story is set in America, it actually begins with the narrator’s grandfather getting kidnapped from his home in Africa, and being taken to America on a slave ship. The narrator begins relating the history of African Americans on this continent from the early 1600’s when European Settlers made their way to America, to 2008, when the Everywoman was able to vote for the first African American President.

Cultural markers and details are present everywhere in Heart and Soul, from the pictures of the slave ships where “African men, women, and children were packed like fish,” and the slaves in the cotton fields, to the timeline included in the end pages. Nelson used careful attention to historical accuracy when he talked about the slave ships, the Underground Railroad, the Buffalo Soldiers during the Civil War, the Jim Crow Laws, the Civil Right movement, and many, other events important in not only the lives of African Americans, but all Americans. In Nelson’s painting of a young Fredrick Douglas, you can see the determination on the face of “the Lion of Anacostia,” who learned to read, escaped from a life of slavery, to become a famous abolitionist, whose goal was “to expose slavery in this country, because to expose it is to kill it.”

This 108 page picture book is full of beautiful and thought-provoking paintings by Kadir Nelson, who is well known for his dramatic paintings which capture the spirit of African Americans. Nelson/s paintings have been displayed world-wide in museums and galleries. There is a depth to the pictures which speaks to the reader and brings the words to life. In the Author’s note at the back of the book, Kadir Nelson shares that he gained much of the information for the book by interviewing many of his oldest family members, and the narrator in this book is based upon a compilation of those memories. To add to the book’s authenticity, the book contains a two-page timeline of the events recorded in the narration, as well as a bibliography and index. 

Nelson’s other award-winning books include Ellington Was Not a Street by Ntozake Shange, and Just the Two of us by Will Smith.

4. REVIEW EXCERPTS

HORN BOOK REVIEW: "Nelson effectively creates a voice that is at once singular and representative. A tour de force in the career of an author/artist who continues to outdo himself".

BOOK LIST REVIEW:" Nelson…adds to his notable titles with this powerful view of African American history. Illustrated with 44 full-page paintings, this handsome volume is told in the fictionalized, informal voice of an African American senior looking back on her life and remembering what her elders told her".

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL REVIEW: "Provocative and powerful, this book offers a much-needed perspective for individuals of all ages seeking to understand America's past and present".

AWARDS

Jane Adams Honor Book Award

2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award and Illustrator Honor

 

5. CONNECTIONS

Other books by Kadir Nelson:

Nelson, Kadir. Nelson Mandela. ISBN-10: 0061783749.

Nelson, Kadir. We Are the Ship. ISBN-10: 0786808322

Nelson, Kadir. He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands. ISBN-10: 080372