Trilogy by John Lewis, Andrew Ayden, and Nate Powell. Marietta, GA: Top Shelf Publications, 2013
This is a three-volume memoir of Congressman John Lewis’ life and role in the civil rights movement, told with humility, sensitivity, and insight, along with incredibly powerful images and brilliant page and panel design. It addresses social studies themes such as: historical events; culture and cultural diversity; national and community institutions; the powers and challenges of governance; and citizenship and civic ideals and practices.
Awards include: ALA 2014 and 2017 Coretta Scott King Book Awards, a Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, Eisner Awards, National Book Award (2016), Michael L. Printz Award 2017 for excellence in literature written for young adults, 2017 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award, the 2017 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults, 2017 Walter Award Winner. Starred reviews from School Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Booklist.
See how to use these books to teach visual literacy (pp.26, 28-31), graphic novel anatomy and jargon (pp.50-51), critical / close reading (pp. 52-54) and exploring citizenship (pp.140-144) in Worth A Thousand Words: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Visual and Verbal Literacy.