Review by Booklist Review
Before Angela Davis was the icon that she is today, she was just a little girl who knew she deserved the right to live a life unencumbered by hatred. She knew friendship and community in Birmingham, Alabama, but when her family moved, she learned about racism so virulent that the neighborhood came to be known as Dynamite Hill. Amid the injustice, young Davis' spirit grew strong while she played in the countryside and found respite with her people. This foundation, Be the Light establishes, is what gave Davis the power to teach, protest, survive imprisonment, and thrive as a representation of American resistance. Readers will come to know Davis as an ordinary girl who grew up to be an extraordinary woman. Vibrant watercolor illustrations highlight the role of community, ancestors, persistence, and hope in Davis' journey. This biography demonstrates how identity is shaped by environment and should be part of all social studies curricula. Back matter provides additional material for readers to incorporate into their own lives.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Peoples (Mama's Library Summers) begins a forthright account of the life of activist Angela Davis (b. 1944) with young Davis and her parents moving from a welcoming Birmingham, Ala., neighborhood to another, "Dynamite Hill," where Black families are met with hostility: an image shows white-robed figures carrying torches as "bombs exploded." In the face of segregation and violence, Davis is happiest in the countryside, where she chases chickens and rides horses, scenes relayed in sensate lines. Following her grandmother's death, Davis gains "a special power: the ability to see a new world in the future." This skill carries the figure forward, through her career as a college professor, where she passes it to her students, and then into her activism. When she's arrested and incarcerated, Davis shares the ability with her fellow inmates, and when she's acquitted, she weaves it throughout her work as an abolitionist. An absence of in-story context may at times lead to confusion for those not familiar with Davis's life. Naif-style gouache artwork, meanwhile, features interacting figures against a dark expanse stippled with starlike dots. Background characters are portrayed with various abilities and skin tones. Back matter includes an author's note and visualization guide. Ages 4--8. Agent: Marietta B. Zacker, Gallt & Zacker Literary. (June)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 1--3--A picture book biography that expertly combines traditional and digital art forms to detail the life of political activist Angela Davis. She lived in a loving and friendly neighborhood in Birmingham, AL, but that friendliness was nowhere to be found when her family moved to a new neighborhood nicknamed "Dynamite Hill," so-called because of the frequent bombings of the houses of Black families. In the segregated south, "whites only" signs prevented Davis from entering certain establishments. These restrictions angered her, but she found comfort in the belief that in the future, it wouldn't always be this way. As she progressed from student to professor, she passed on this belief in a better world to her students. Even when she was in jail, she encouraged the other women there to imagine new worlds where they would have the freedom to do anything. For every reader of this picture book, Davis continues to pass on the message that everyone can be the light in someone's life and show them that bad times won't last. The author weaves a tale of a young girl from the segregated south who transformed her anger at discrimination into the drive to keep moving to a different future. This volume introduces readers to tough topics like segregation and racial discrimination but does so in a way that is accessible to a picture book audience. It also provides an opportunity to discuss these topics while remembering Davis's sentiment, that there is freedom in the future ahead and it will not always be this way. VERDICT This essential picture book about the life of an important political activist is sure to be a great addition to picture book collections.--Myiesha Speight
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Review by Horn Book Review
This picture-book biography of the educator and "passionate activist for equality and justice for all" emphasizes how the events of Davis's (b. 1944) early life growing up in 1940s and 1950s Birmingham, Alabama, had a profound impact on her later work fighting segregation and racism. Bombings in her neighborhood by the Ku Klux Klan and "whites only" signs at the library, the amusement park, and the movie theater reminded her of societal restrictions, and she became angry. In a spiritual revelation following the death of her grandmother, she let go of her anger and acquired a special power: "the ability to see new freedoms and new futures." Davis could envision a new world "where segregation, like slavery, was abolished, where God ordained love, and all were welcome." During adulthood, she became a professor, a political activist for prisoners, and a prisoner herself. While incarcerated, she shared her power with the other women; after her acquittal and release, she became an abolitionist and remains one today. Peoples's reverent narrative and evocative digitally rendered gouache-like illustrations vibrantly convey the essence of Davis's unwavering activism and resolute optimism for a new world. Back matter includes an author's note and a timeline. Pauletta Brown BracyJuly/August 2025 p.121 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Activist Angela Davis' childhood experiences shaped the trajectory of her life. Davis grew up in segregated Birmingham, Alabama, with parents who believed that "freedom lives anywhere and everywhere it pleases," but not all of their neighbors agreed. Many retaliated with violence ("Bombs exploded, houses rumbled"), but her parents instilled in her the possibility of change--a mindset that gave her life direction. As a college professor, she shared that vision with others, embracing viewpoints that placed her in opposition to the U.S. government. Eventually, she was incarcerated; she used her time in prison to share her perspective with her fellow inmates. Many all around the world called for her release until at last she was acquitted and freed. A prison abolitionist, she was a symbol of a world where those whose needs are unmet will be cared for. Peoples uses clear, inspiring language to relate her subject's path to activism amid turbulent times. Readers may emerge with questions about why Davis was imprisoned; a visual essay in the backmatter offers context about Davis' alleged involvement in the death of a prison guard, as well as her vindication. Peoples' passion comes through; an author's note details her personal connection to Davis' ideals and how they still resonate. Colorful, expressionistic illustrations, rife with visual metaphor, contribute to the atmospheric storytelling. A moving picture-book biography that reveals a complex personality who followed a unique path. (timeline)(Picture-book biography. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
