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Thermes, Jennifer

A Place Called America: A Story of the Land and People

64 pp. | Abrams | August, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9781419743894 $22.99 | Ebook ISBN 9798887071992 $18.65
(2) 4-6 "Maps show how humans have used borders to divide the land into villages, towns, states, and countries. Much of the story of human history has been about the quest for land and who controls it." In this ambitious and comprehensive account, Thermes (The Indestructible Tom Crean, rev. 1/23) first chronicles European colonization and the aftermath it had--and continues to have--on Indigenous inhabitants of this continent. She goes on to describe successive waves of migration, both forced (the enslavement of Africans; Japanese incarceration during World War II) and voluntary, and mentions ongoing immigration issues. She weaves these narratives into larger political events, especially wars and territorial expansion. The design here is flawless: the illustrations, text, maps, and sidebars work in concert to synthesize and convey not only a large amount of complex information, but information that requires subtlety and nuance in its presentation (and though the art might sometimes be considered cozy, the text does not mince words: "The lie that a person with light skin was superior to one with dark skin tightened its grip"). Moreover, this extended nonfiction picture book has a slightly oversize trim, which, along with the pastel-colored illustrations rendered in watercolor, colored pencil, and ink, recalls the work of the d'Aulaires. This book too has the look and feel of a classic that readers will revisit time and again to fully absorb the details in both text and illustration. A selected bibliography recommends further resources, while an extensive timeline occupies both endpapers.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2023

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