memoir – BookBunnies

Marshmallow reviews Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice by Tommie Smith

Readers probably already know that Marshmallow enjoys reading graphic novels which are fictional, but she has occasionally also read memoirs or biographies written in graphic novel format and reviewed them for the book bunnies blog. (See, for example, her reviews of They Called Us Enemy by George Takei and The English GI by Jonathan Sandler and Brian Bicknell.) Today she writes about a 2022 book in this genre: Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice, by Tommie Smith, co-written by Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile.

Marshmallow’s Quick Take: If you like autobiographies or books about recent history, or if you want to read specifically about one of the consequential events in the history of the Civil Rights and Black Power movements in the United States, then this might be the book for you.

Marshmallow’s Summary (with Spoilers): Tommie Smith is an American athlete, who is the first person to run 200 meters in under 20 seconds. In this book, Smith shares his experiences and retells the events leading up to and after his famous 1968 Olympics Black Power salute.

The narrative starts by showing the beginning of Smith’s Olympic finals race. Then we are shown his earlier life. As a young child, Tommie and his family were sharecroppers, meaning that they worked on land owned by someone else. Tommie did chores and picked cotton with his family. Even at a young age, Tommie could see injustice. He watched his parents and siblings work so hard everyday, toiling in the sun, while the white family who owned the land had a better, bigger house and did not have to work as much. However, things soon got even worse, and mechanized equipment and the drop in cotton prices took jobs away from sharecroppers. As a result, Tommie and his family moved to a labor camp in Stratford, California. There Tommie began to attend school regularly and “had to make sense of something that made no sense at all”. The white children in his class had several privileges, and the teachers saw them raise their hands, but they never seemed to see Tommie’s.

Everything changed, however, after a momentous race with his sister. Tommie realized that he could achieve anything, and he joined his school’s track team. This led him to becoming a star, winning almost every single competition he entered. By the time he graduated high school, he had accolades in multiple sports and several scholarship offers.

Tommie became a star athlete, and eventually, he made it to the Olympics. But he never lost his sense of justice and equality. He raised his fist at the 1968 Games to protest the racism and the many injustices in the United States at the time. Afterwards, there was a lot of push-back, and Smith faced a lot of difficulties as a result, but also a lot of people felt seen and heard. The book ends in the present, mentioning a few other athletes who have made similar protests after Smith in the intervening years.

Marshmallow is reading Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice, by Tommie Smith, written together with Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile. — Marshmallow is reading *Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice*, by Tommie Smith, written together with Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile.

Marshmallow’s Review: I really enjoyed reading Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice. It is very informative, and I learned a lot that I did not know before. I think it is very important to know and remember such acts of bravery and the people who committed them.

The drawings are really good. I think that they show movement, especially running, very well. I have reviewed historical graphic novels before, and I appreciated them too, but the drawing style in this one was unique and enjoyable. I also enjoyed the writing style of the author. The writing paired with the drawings made this a really good book overall.

Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice mentions horrible things that some people have done and has one image that is disturbing. Additionally, it does have some derogatory words. But the message of the book is vital. I think this is a book that every young bunny should read at least once. The story of Tommie Smith’s courageous life and his raised fist is a touching story that gives us hope for the future.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice, by Tommie Smith, written together with Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile, 100%. — Marshmallow rates *Victory. Stand! Raising My Fist for Justice*, by Tommie Smith, written together with Derrick Barnes and illustrated by Dawud Anyabwile, 100%.

Marshmallow reviews The English GI by Jonathan Sandler and Brian Bicknell

Marshmallow, just like Caramel, enjoys and appreciates graphic novels of various types. As such she has reviewed several of these books for the book bunnies blog. Today she reviews another recent graphic novel, The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir of A Yorkshire Schoolboy’s Adventures in the United States and Europe, written by Jonathan Sandler and illustrated by Brian Bicknell. Sprinkles was curious about the book too, and so she is taking notes while asking questions.

The book bunnies received this book as a review copy.

Marshmallow reviews The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir of A Yorkshire Schoolboy's Adventures in the United States and Europe, written by Jonathan Sandler and illustrated by Brian Bicknell. — Marshmallow reviews *The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir of A Yorkshire Schoolboy’s Adventures in the United States and Europe*, written by Jonathan Sandler and illustrated by Brian Bicknell.

Sprinkles: So Marshmallow, let us start with a quick summary. What is this book about?

Marshmallow: This book is about Bernard Sandler, a seventeen-year-old boy from Yorkshire, England, who goes on a school trip to the US. Then the second world war starts and he cannot go back home. He has to find his own way through life in a new country. And he eventually joins the US army and fights in the war too.

S: That sounds like a really rough path for a young person.

M: I think so too. But he does survive and he lives a good life. And the author is his grandson who wanted to tell his story.

S: That is so neat! A lot of families have stories to tell, but not everyone ends up writing them up for others to learn about. So the book is not fiction, then?

M: No. In fact there is a long epilogue at the end of the book, which takes almost a fourth of it actually, and it gives a lot of details about Bernard’s life and his family.

S: I did see that. It looked really well documented. And in some ways it reminded me of two books you reviewed before.

M: Which ones?

S: Nothing But The Truth by Avi and They Called Us Enemy by George Takei.

M: I see how the second one is similar. That too was about real life, written by George Takei, whose childhood was during the second world war, and he went through a lot of difficult times. How do you connect this book to Avi’s?

S: That book also had a lot of documentation, no? Though of course that was fiction, and this is a real story.

M: Hmm, I see. Yes, you are right. This is not quite a typical graphic novel; first off it is true, and then it has a lot of historical documentation that connects it to history.

Marshmallow is reading The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir of A Yorkshire Schoolboy's Adventures in the United States and Europe, written by Jonathan Sandler and illustrated by Brian Bicknell. — Marshmallow is reading *The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir of A Yorkshire Schoolboy’s Adventures in the United States and Europe*, written by Jonathan Sandler and illustrated by Brian Bicknell.

S: So what else would you like to tell us about the book?

M: I really liked the illustrations.

S: They are black and white, no?

M: Well, they are more or less grayscale, but you can see a lot of details, and they are almost like photos, and since it is a history being told, I think it fits really well.

S: That totally makes sense.

M: Also I’d like to say that this would be appropriate for readers of all ages.

S: Especially if someone is a history buff, no? I think a lot of people like to read and learn about the second world war. This could be really perfect for such a reader.

M: Yes, but even if you are not particularly interested in that war, this is a good book. It has a really interesting story. And there is not much that would be difficult for young bunnies, except of course it is about war, which is a terrible thing, and Bernard has to separate from his original family and his original country, so those could be too sad for really young bunnies.

S: I agree with you Marshmallow. Some young bunnies might be really sad, so for them, this might not be a good choice. But if a bunny is willing to read a book about the war, and if they are keen on graphic novels, this would be a neat book for them.

M: Yes.

S: So did you learn some things from this book?

M: Yes. It was like looking through a window to see what life was like for a young person during the war. So I found it very interesting that way.

S: Did you know what a G.I. is?

M: I knew of the G.I. Joe action figures, but I did not know exactly what the initials meant, so I had to look it up! Wikipedia says: “G.I. are initials used to describe the soldiers of the United States Army and airmen of the United States Air Force and general items of their equipment. The term G.I. has been used as an initialism of “Government Issue”, “General Issue”, or “Ground Infantry”, but it originally referred to “galvanized iron”, as used by the logistics services of the United States Armed Forces.”

S: The evolution is interesting, isn’t it?

M: Yes.

S: So maybe it is about time to wrap up this review. How would you rate the book overall Marshmallow?

M: I’d rate it 97%. I like how it is a real story and I like the illustrations.

S: That’s great Marshmallow. So what do you want to tell our readers then?

M: Stay tuned for more amazing book reviews from the book bunnies!

Marshmallow rates The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir of A Yorkshire Schoolboy's Adventures in the United States and Europe, written by Jonathan Sandler and illustrated by Brian Bicknell 97%. — Marshmallow rates *The English GI: World War II Graphic Memoir of A Yorkshire Schoolboy’s Adventures in the United States and Europe*, written by Jonathan Sandler and illustrated by Brian Bicknell 97%.

Marshmallow reviews They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

Marshmallow enjoys graphic novels just like many other bunnies, but she has been especially taken by a 2019 book, the memoir They Called Us Enemy, written by the Star Trek veteran George Takei together with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker. Below she shares her thoughts on this striking book.

Marshmallow reviews They Called Us Enemy, written by the Star Trek veteran George Takei together with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker. — Marshmallow reviews *They Called Us Enemy*, written by the Star Trek veteran George Takei together with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker.

Marshmallow’s Overview: In the book They Called Us Enemy, George Takei writes about what it was like to live in a Japanese internment camp. The internment camps were places where the USA put Japanese Americans and people who had come from Japan to find better opportunities in the USA during the second world war.

This was a dark time in American history that is not always emphasized. According to Wikipedia:

In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Civil Liberties Act of 1988 which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government … The legislation admitted that government actions were based on “race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internment_of_Japanese_Americans

George Takei was put in an internment camp when he was a little boy. He stayed there for four years. The time that he spent in the camps was very important and affected his whole life. This book tells his story.

Marshmallow’s Summary: One day, George wakes up and he and his family are ordered to leave their home. As a reaction to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the US government gathered most Japanese immigrants and Japanese Americans and put them in the camps because many Americans thought that they might betray the United States of America. George does not realize any of this because he is a little boy at the time that he is put in the camp.

George’s family has to board a train to get to the camp and they can only bring what they can carry and that is not much. To add on to that, the government makes them sell everything else that they own.

When they get to the camp, they see that it is in the middle of nowhere and that they are surrounded by barbed wire and watch towers that have men with guns watching then. George and his family, which includes his brother, Henry, his sister, Nancy Reiko, his father, Takekuma Norman Takei, and his mother, Fumiko Emily Nakamura, have to sleep in a tiny house split by walls that are not sound-proof and their neighbors are able to hear everything that they say. So, in the end the parents decide that they will speak Japanese to each other when talking about private stuff.

They Called Us Enemy is a graphic novel with very realistic drawings. Marshmallow is pointing to the page where George’s parents are frustrated and outraged by the way they are treated.

When they come to the house it is very hot. The book compares it to a furnace. When they were in the camp, many people lose loved ones. For example, Mrs. Takahashi loses her husband because he is a Buddhist minister. She has four children. Those four children lose their father. Mr. Yasuda is taken by federal agents because he is teaching children how to speak Japanese.

“Their husbands’ only crimes were that they occupied highly visible positions…”

Not only are they being taken from their homes, but they are also losing family and friends.

Marshmallow’s Review: This was a very bad time for many people and this book shows how devastating it was. It is a very good book that captures the essence of how important this event is in American history. The internment of Japanese Americans was a big event especially for people who suffered though it and lost members of their family and friends. It is also important for us today. We need to know our past so we don’t make similar mistakes in the future.

Marshmallow’s Rating: 100%.

Marshmallow rates They Called Us Enemy, by George Takei, written together with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker, 100%. — Marshmallow rates *They Called Us Enemy*, by George Takei, written together with Justin Eisinger and Steven Scott, and illustrated by Harmony Becker, 100%.