A Long Time Coming
A Lyrical Biography of Race in America From Ona Judge to Barack Obama
Astra Publishing House · Print & ebook · August 8, 2023
This YA biography-in-verse of six important Black Americans from different eras, including Ona Judge, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama, chronicles the diverse ways each fought racism and shows how much—and how little—has changed for Black Americans since our country’s founding.
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- Who it’s for
- Six lives across centuries bring the unfinished struggle against racism into intimate, lyrical focus.
- Themes
- Racism and resistance, Struggles for justice, Historical change and progress
- Genres
- African American U.S. History for Teens, Civil & Human Rights for Teens, Cultural Heritage Lives
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Start with this bookAbout this book
This YA biography-in-verse of six important Black Americans from different eras, including Ona Judge, Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Ida B. Wells, Martin Luther King Jr., and Barack Obama, chronicles the diverse ways each fought racism and shows how much—and how little—has changed for Black Americans since our country’s founding.
Continue reading
Full of daring escapes, deep emotion, and subtle lessons on how racism operates, A LONG TIME COMING reveals the universal importance of its subjects’ struggles for justice. From freedom seeker Ona Judge, who fled her enslavement by America’s first president, to Barack Obama, the first Black president, all of Shepard’s protagonists fight valiantly for justice for themselves and all Black Americans in any way that they can. But it is also a highly personal book, as Shepard — whose maternal grandfather was enslaved — shows how the grand sweep of history has touched his life, reflecting on how much progress has been made against racism, while also exhorting readers to complete the vast work that remains to be done.
History in Verse
Six lives across centuries bring the unfinished struggle against racism into intimate, lyrical focus.
Come here for
- A personal lens on the long fight for justice
- Daring escapes and deep emotion across generations
Expect
- Biography in verse, from Ona Judge to Barack Obama
- Reflection on progress made—and work still ahead
Where it sits
| African American U.S. History for Teens | 57% |
|---|---|
| Civil & Human Rights for Teens | 45% |
| Cultural Heritage Lives | 23% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- Cultural Heritage Lives
- African American U.S. History for Teens
- Prejudice & Racism for Teens
- Authors
- Ray Anthony Shepard
- Publisher
- Astra Publishing House
- Published
- August 8, 2023
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Racism and resistance · Struggles for justice · Historical change and progress
- Reading lane
- Cultural Heritage Lives