More than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom
by Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long
Intermediate, Middle School    Farrar    272 pp.
8/23    9780374391744    $21.99
e-book ed.  9780374391751    $11.99

Williams and Long provide readers with a complex narrative of the 1963 March on Washington that goes beyond Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous speech. They begin with the 1962 meeting between Bayard Rustin and A. Philip Randolph, where the two decided the time had come for the march that Randolph had conceived more than twenty years earlier. By starting at this point, Williams and Long are able to highlight the many challenges (governmental resistance; disagreements among the organizers) and triumphs that took place before, during, and (briefly) after the march itself. Photos, newspaper clippings, and other primary-source images bring the history to life for young readers. Throughout the text, sidebars add important historical information and questions to consider. Back matter includes additional interesting facts (“Extra Steps”), discussion questions, extensive source notes, and an index (unseen); an opening note addresses word choice and the use of quotes containing racist language (including the n-word). Pair with Lewis and Aydin’s March series (March: Book One, rev. 1/14; and sequels).

From the November/December 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.