Tony Medina is the author of six beloved books for young readers, as well as multiple volumes of poetry for adults. A Pushcart Prize-nominated poet and a professor of creative writing at Howard University, Dr. Medina is a two-time winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People. He lives in the Washington, DC area.
John Jennings co-edited the Eisner-nominated anthology The Blacker the Ink. He is a professor of media and cultural studies at the University of California, Riverside, and the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellowship at Harvard's Hutchins Center for African & African American Research. Jennings lives in California.
Stacey Robinson is an assistant professor of graphic design at the University of Illinois and an Arthur Schomburg Fellow with an MFA from the University at Buffalo. As part of the team "Black Kirby," he works with fellow artist John Jennings to create graphic novels, gallery exhibitions, and lectures that deconstruct the work of comic book legend Jack Kirby into re-imagined Black resistance spaces inspired by hip-hop, religion, the arts, and sciences. Robinson lives in Illinois and can be found on Twitter (@ProfSARobinson) and Instagram (@StaceyARobinson).
* "Illuminating and realistic. The outrage and grief are palpable,
and the black-and-white illustrations enforce the gut-punching pull
of each character's journey. And as Alfonso meets the historical
figures who preceded him, readers will understand the systemic
racism that underlies these violent cases." -- School Library
Journal, starred review "We are so fortunate that Tony Medina and
his generation have taken on their shoulders the classic
responsibilities of telling stories that embrace the hearts and
souls of not only the individuals but the neighborhoods. A comic
book is no longer something to laugh with but something to learn
from. I Am Alfonso Jones is incredibly enlightening." -- Nikki
Giovanni "In the aftermath of his senseless murder at the hands of
a policeman, Alfonso's story powerfully illustrates the value
inherent in every human life and the tragedy of loss by all who are
impacted." -- LeVar Burton, Actor, Director, Author, and Reading
Activist "Medina, Robinson, and Jennings do for us what the ghosts
do for Alfonso in their story. They help us to see. They help us to
remember. They help us to understand. A must read." -- Gene Luen
Yang, award-winning author of American Born Chinese "Brimming with
history and spirituality, I Am Alfonso Jones is a refreshing and
necessary exploration into police brutality. With both word and
art, Medina and Jennings have breathed new life into this
longstanding movement." -- Ibi Zoboi, award-winning author of
American Street "I can't say enough how important, beautiful,
heartbreaking, and tremendous a book this is. Read it. Gift it to a
young person in your life. Shout it from the rooftops. I Am Alfonso
Jones is a crucial part of the conversation and it demands to be
heard." -- Daniel Jos� Older, author of Shadowshaper and
Shadowhouse Fall "I Am Alfonso Jones is a wonderful, sad, anger
inducing, slice of life and afterlife with a helping of Hamlet
sprinkled in for flavor, of a graphic novel. It paints a searing
portrait of the emotional heart break and pain at the origins of
the Black Lives Matter movement." -- Randy DuBurke, illustrator of
Yummy: The Last Days of a Southside Shorty "I Am Alfonso Jones is
many things--a thoughtful, multi-layered story, a history lesson,
and a sobering tale of race and justice in these times. This
riveting graphic novel is for young people who deserve a better
world and for adults dedicated to helping them achieve it." --
Katheryn Russell-Brown, author of Little Melba and her Big Trombone
"[Medina] preserves a thoughtful perspective and a sense of
balanced humanity through Alfonso's loving family and his school
cohort, and he staves off suffocating solemnity with a lyrical turn
of phrase and insightful allusions to literary ghosts." -- Booklist
"If readers pick up this graphic novel, with its edgy black and
white artwork spilling rapidly from one visual genre to the next,
looking for a bit of urban grit laced with a few squeaks of
outrage, they will find instead an argument that cuts right past
the polite give-and-take of community policing issues to the
urgency of the Black Lives Matter call for immediate justice
without excuses. . . Unapologetic about its anger, this title will
resonate with readers for whom "No justice, no peace" is more than
a meme." -- Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "No
contrived solutions or false sense of closure disrupt the
narrative's expanding path as it touches on related issues of
poverty and mass incarceration. An appended author's note,
information about The Real-Life Ancestors of This Book (e.g.,
Eleanor Bumpurs, Amadou Diallo), and an Ancestors Wall listing the
names, ages, and dates and places of death bring readers back to
the real-life victims of police violence and leave them with a
concluding call to action." -- The Horn Book "There are no pat
solutions here, and readers are left to wonder if Alfonso will ever
leave the ghost train. . . Painfully important." -- Kirkus Reviews
"Enlivened by high-voltage sequential artwork from Robinson and
Jennings, Medina takes on a host of difficult questions. . . At the
story's heart is Alfonso's mother's plea: if the officer's school
had taught him more about the world, she mourns, he might have seen
Alfonso 'as a teenager... as an American, as a human.'" --
Publishers Weekly "Medina's characterizations are detailed and
appealing, using language natural to teens. . . A valuable tool for
educating young people about the history of police injustice." --
Foreword ReviewsBest Graphic Novels - Forbes
Black-Eyed Susan Award Nominee - Maryland Association of School
Librarians
CCBC Choices - Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Great Graphic Novels for Teens, Top Ten - Young Adult Library
Services Association (YALSA)
Skipping Stones Book Awards - Skipping Stones Magazine
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