(3) K-3 Illustrated by Isabel Muñoz. The opening scene in this account of a remarkable friendship puts the ugliness of segregation front and center. In 1937 in Princeton, New Jersey, African American contralto Marian Anderson was welcomed by an all-white audience (including Albert Einstein) but was refused hotel accommodations after her performance. Einstein invited Anderson to stay at his house, thus offering author Rose the opportunity to provide insight into the Jewish physicist (who fled Nazi Germany) and his commitment to racial equality. Muñoz's cartoonlike illustrations effectively convey emotion. An author's note provides more information about both subjects.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) K-3 Famous African Americans series. Each simply written title in this updated series (originally published in 1991 and 1992) provides an adequate introduction to a notable African American. Archival photographs, mostly black and white, and mediocre color illustrations appear on every spread. Large type and short sentences make these books suitable for use with reluctant readers. There are six other spring 2013 books in this series. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers these Famous African Americans titles: Carter G. Woodson, George Washington Carver, Louis Armstrong, Marian Anderson, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Paul Robeson.

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(4) 4-6 Sterling Biographies series. Attractive layouts and well-chosen images including photographs, paintings, documents (e.g., the police report on Rosa Parks's arrest), etc. make for accessible, if adulatory, biographies of six noteworthy African Americans. Sidebars flesh out historical contexts and important contemporaries. Malcolm X is the most riveting, both because of the subject's criminal past and his controversial beliefs. Across the volumes, quotations aren't cited. Timeline. Bib., glos., ind. Review covers these Sterling Biographies titles: Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, Marian Anderson, and Frederick Douglass.

Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Leonard Jenkins. FDR's assistant secretary of the interior, Oscar Chapman, was instrumental in organizing Marian Anderson's 1939 Lincoln Memorial concert. This picture book biography fills in Chapman's civil rights background (e.g., his childhood attempts to hang a picture of Abraham Lincoln in his racist Virginia school). Jenkins's expansive mural-like paintings are impressive in themselves but tend to overwhelm the slight--in comparison--text.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton

(1) 4-6 Freedman's comprehensive account of Anderson's burgeoning career shows the singer's intensive study of and dedication to the classical concert and lieder repertory and presents her accomplishments as both an actor in and an emblem of her times. The many photos are well chosen; appended material includes source notes, a selective bibliography and discography, and an index.

Reviewer: Roger Sutton | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2004

(4) K-3 Great African Americans series. Each simply written title in this series provides an adequate introduction to a notable African American. black-and-white photos, often poorly reproduced, extend the text. Large type and short sentences make these books suitable for use with reluctant readers. Along with a time line, an updated bibliography and a list of Internet addresses are included. Glos., ind. [Review covers these Great African Americans titles: Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Louis Armstrong, Marian Anderson, Martin Luther King, Jr., Mary McLeod Bethune.]

Reviewer: Henrietta M. Smith

(3) YA African-American Biographies series. Well-rounded, clearly written biographies explore the lives of the groundbreaking singer, inspiring writer, and successful entrepreneur. The books address personal setbacks and the roadblocks these individuals encountered due to racism, but the emphasis is on their triumphs and the legacy that each provided. Average-quality black-and-white photographs illustrate the texts. Time lines are included. Bib., ind.

Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta