African American Literature BLUES JOURNEY by: Walter Dean Myers

Bibliography: Myers, Walter Dean. 2003. BLUES JOURNEY. Ill. Myers, Christopher. New York: Holiday House. ISBN 0823416135

Plot Summary:

This is the story of the African-American’s journey in America from the time of slavery and the hard times in their lives through this journey. The book is written in the blues format that was brought to America from Africa during the slave trade.

Critical Analysis:

When I first picked up this book to read I thought it was going to be a story of a road journey with a mule named Blue. What a surprise when I turned to the back cover and found it is a book about the American Blues Music! This is a work by father/son Walter and Christopher Myers of the journey of the “Blues” music. The book is written in the call/response music form that history has called the “Blues” which is a cultural marker in itself. The “Blues” musical style has been a part of the African American culture since slaves were brought over across the ocean. Walter Myers has used the poetic lyric tunes to tell the journey and Christopher has used his illustrations to visualize the story. The blue and brown hues holding the background of the pages connect the blues music and the dark skins of the African Americans who are telling their stories. Cultural markers are found throughout the book in the text with such words as “Blackbirds fly, the hound dogs howl and bark, yes blackbirds fly, you know hound dogs howl and bark I see my true love sitting, crying in the dark.” African Americans have often been called “blackbirds” and this verse brings visions of one fleeing from slavery with the hound dogs tracking the scent as if the one hunted were an animal. Another vivid image comes from “Strange fruit hanging, high in a big oak tree Strange fruit hanging, high in a big oak tree You can see what it did to Willie, can you see what it does to me?” This reminds the reader of lynchings that took place as recently as the 1960’s in America’s south during the Civil Right’s movement. It is very difficult to choose illustrations as examples because each page sets the clothing, facial expressions, body language so readily with the text. One of the most impressive illustrations reveals two young boys peeking through a screen window their facial expressions showing concern for what is outside. The illustrations each show the facial expression and body movement that blends the illustration to the text. For example: "Blues, blues, blues what you mean to me? Blues, blues, blues what you mean to me? Are you my pain and misery, or my sweet, sweet company" illustrates young African Americans expressing their love for the music with imagined celebratory movements. The rippled muscled arms and swinging of picks reveals the life of the African Americans as they work the land as prisoners with the guard with his rifle silhouetted in the background. The Blues Glossary at the back of the book was particularly beneficial to me as some of the language in the cultural sense was unfamiliar to me. I was not aware that Parchman’s was a harsh prison in Mississippi and that was explained in the glossary as well as other unfamiliar expressions. Before beginning the book there is a brief history of the “Blues” and this was very informative for those who are unfamiliar with the “Blues” music.

Reviews:

From School Library Journal: Blues- what you mean to me?/-Are you my pain and misery,/or my sweet, sweet company?" The opening verse of this latest father/son collaboration probes the very essence of a form-and a feeling; it asks the question that anyone who has sought solace in music can relate to. This new duet is the blues: verbally and visually, it explores the idiom while exemplifying it. A call and response accompanies each painting. The poetry is given a variety of voices by the ever-changing cast and settings: three figures in a horse-drawn cart on a lonely road; two children sitting on a curb-one crying, the other comforting; workers in a chain gang; a brother and sister sharing a bed, head to toe. The tightly controlled, yet endlessly surprising palette consists of blue (ink), white (paint), and brown (paper bags). Many of the bodies and backgrounds are literally blue, with white highlights. This chilling effect is tempered by the warm texture of the brown bags. As the journey progresses, the lyrics and art look at loss through the lenses of slavery, poverty, lynching, love spurned, fear of dying-and of living. An author's note provides a lucid description of the history, elements, and importance of the blues. Symbolism is explored in a glossary. Artist and author push the idiom-and the picture book-to new dimensions. Their song will slide through readers' ears and settle into their souls.

Booklist: The blues' deceptively simple rhyme scheme tracks the deeper feelings of lives that have been bruised. In this picture book for older readers, Myers offers blues-inspired verse that touches on the black-and-blue moments of individual lives. His son Christopher's images, which illustrate the call-and-response text, alternate between high spirited and haunting. Myers begins with a very necessary introduction to the history of the blues that includes an explanation of the rhyme scheme. Still, the level of sophistication necessary for kids to get into the book is considerable: "Strange fruit hanging, high in the big oak tree / Strange fruit hanging high in the big oak tree / You can see what it did to Willie, / and you see what it did to me." Myers' original verse is unsettling if young people know the reference from the Billie Holiday song, but unclear if they don't ("strange fruit" is defined in the glossary). The accompanying illustration, though it's one of the less inspired ones, helps clarify things--a boy walks in a crowd carrying a sign saying, "yesterday a man was lynched." But there's no cohesion between the spreads, and the next one features a blues singer at a mike: "The thrill is gone, but love is still in my heart . . . I can feel you in the music and it's tearing me apart." Much of Myers' poetry here is terrific, by turn, sweet, sharp, ironic, but it's the memorable collage artwork, executed in the bluest of blue ink and brown paper, that will draw readers first. Once inside the book, some children will immediately hear the songs the poetry sings; others will have to listen more closely.
Connections:

http://www.pbs.org/theblues/classroom/defhistory.html This PBS site has some music clips that you might want to share with your students so they can hear the soulful voices that make the blues what it is.

Music teachers might want to use this book as an introduction to the study of the blues music.

Students could write a “blues” song about a difficult time in their lives and the less timid might be willing to share it musically.

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BESSIE SMITH AND THE NIGHT RIDERS by: Sue Stauffacher ISBN 0399242376