Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop by R. Gregory Christie

Witness momentous events through the eyes of a 9-year-old in Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop (Calkins Creek, $17.98). Based on teacher Almella Starks-Umoja’s personal recollections, fictional protagonist Lorraine describes her family’s experiences at home, at church, and on the march after the deaths of two sanitation workers lead to a strike, boycotts, protests—and even more tragedy. One day after giving his stirring “Mountaintop” speech in Memphis, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. R. Gregory Christie’s acrylic-gouache paintings heighten Alice Faye Duncan’s fresh perspective on this epoch, with bold colors and dynamic compositions reminiscent of Jacob Lawrence. Ages 9-12.