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I AND I: BOB MARLEY

Page history last edited by RichiesPicks 14 years, 6 months ago

Richie's Picks: I AND I: BOB MARLEY by Tony Medina and Jesse Joshua Watson, Lee & Low, April 2009, 48p., ISBN: 978-1-60060-257-3

 

"Good friends we have had,

Oh, good friends we've lost along the way

In this great future you can't forget your past

So dry your tears I say.

No woman, no cry

No woman, no cry

Ee little darling, don't shed no tears

No, woman, no cry"

-- written by Vincent Ford, Bob Marley's friend who used his royalties to run a soup kitchen in Trenchtown.

 

When one first looks through I AND I, what hits you is an overwhelming sense of joy amidst the signs of struggle.  Throughout the story, Jesse Joshua Watson's bold acrylics bring life and heart to Jamaican landscapes, markets, and music.

 

"In this day and age

The only way out of the

Hardship of the hood

 

"And its never-ending rage

Is to play soccer

Which we love

 

"Or to do something against

The law and risk a police baton

Whack across the jaw

 

"We don't want to

Land in jail

All we want to do is wail

 

"Be the voice of the voiceless

Bring some happiness and

Consciousness to the down-pressed

 

"Through our redemption songs."

 

I AND I is a picture book biography in verse about Bob Marley, the young man who brought reggae to the world and continues -- twenty-eight years after his young death in 1981 -- to inspire new generations through his music and his peaceful fight for social and economic justice.

 

Born to a teenage country girl of color and an elderly white military man, Bob Marley grew up rarely seeing his father.  Growing up with prejudice and amidst poverty, music became a positive part of Bob's life from when he was a little boy, and by fourteen he was getting together with older musicians and stepbrother Bunny, and perfecting his craft.

 

"And music becomes my way of life

My business and my main source of knowledge"

 

There are great pieces about Bob's inspiration; about his sweetie, Rita; and about traveling the world spreading his music and his Rasta words.

 

I AND I concludes with a four-page, 3,000-word Author's Notes which is divided into segments that each coincide with one of the book's two-page spreads.  The author's notes provide a tremendous amount of straightforward information about the life and beliefs of Bob Marley and the background of Jamaica.

 

"Stir it up, little darlin'; stir it up, come on baby..."

 

A joy to read and an inspiring introduction to an immortal figure of my lifetime, I AND I was wowing my grad students this summer and will surely leave quite an impression on today's adolescents.

 

Richie Partington, MLIS

Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com

http://www.librarything.com/profile/richiespicks

BudNotBuddy@aol.com

Moderator, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/

http://www.myspace.com/richiespicks

 

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