The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch

In a time of great social and political change, John Roy grew from slave to congressman. He overcame obstacles and didn't quit when times were hard. This book demonstrates that it is possible to live as a black man and live in harmony with people of other races.
The illustrations in this book

Show More

compliment the author's message and yet don't hide the truth of the difficulties faced by blacks in the time of reconstruction. This book tells a sometimes difficult story in an accessible and reader friendly manner.

Show Less

This book is very well written and easily educates children about a man that went through slavery and became so much more. It tells it how it was lightly so there is no debate, but does not water it down as to forget what slavery was. Thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to end.

Very nicely illustrated biography that will appeal to children and adults alike. Interesting first start to learning about an influential young man from his early days to his death.

I enjoyed reading this inspiring story. As mentioned in the book, many, including myself, know little about this time period and reading about John Lynch's life is fascinating. I loved the engaging illustrations and appreciate the resources given to learn more about this time period. This book

Show More

would be a wonderful addition to classroom libraries.

Show Less

The Amazing Age of John Roy Lynch is a good biography for intermediate elementary students to middle school students. The illustrations are appealing and can lend itself to an elementary reader, but the content and subject matter could also be beneficial for older readers. The book deals with a

Show More

young boy of mixed heritage being born into slavery. The book follows his journey living through the Civil War and reconstruction period of America. The book features include a historical note, timeline, references for further reading, and maps. Overall, I would recommend this book to media specialists, librarians, and teachers.

Show Less

This story of John Roy Lynch, the first African-American speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, is a terrific book for several reasons. The most important is, the author actually gets the story of the Reconstruction Era correct. While many Americans know a lot about the Civil War, the

Show More

great majority don’t know much about Reconstruction, and what they have learned is riddled with myth and inaccuracies. As historian Eric Foner points out, we are still dealing with many of the same issues today as we did during this time period, making it all the more critical that we are aware of what actually happened. Chris Barton does a great job not only in presenting the truth, but in doing so in a way that will be understandable to younger readers.

Another reason this book stands out is because of John Roy Lynch himself, whose story is pretty amazing. Lynch, his mother, and brother were slaves, but were about to be bought and thereby liberated by his white father in 1849 when the father became sick and died. The father had entrusted a friend to complete the process, but the “friend” just sold the family to a new owner.

John Roy’s new job was to serve the owner’s wife by such chores as fanning her and shooing flies from her food. On Sundays, he and the other slaves listened to sermons about doing their master’s will. But John Roy spoke out of place one day, and was sent across the river in 1862 to work in the swampy cotton fields. But by then the Civil War had started, and when the Yankees came to Mississippi, John Roy experienced “true emancipation” when he sold a chicken for a dime and bought a boat ride to Natchez.

After the war ended, Mississippi whites, like those in other parts of the South, began passing laws to incarcerate as many young black men as they could; in essence, re-enslaving them to use their manpower as before. The labor of prisoners was bought and sold by sheriffs and judges among other opportunists to corporations such as U.S. Steel, Tennessee Coal, railroads, lumber camps, and factories. The prisoners who were sent to mines were chained to their barracks at night, and required to work all day. Hundreds died of disease, accidents, or homicide, and in fact, mass burial fields near these old mines can still be located. (You can read about this in the excellent 2008 book by Douglas Blackmon, Slavery By Another Name.)

John Roy managed to escape “recapture” by becoming a messenger for a local portrait shop, and was soon running it himself. He went to night school to learn to read and write, and got involved in the Natchez Republican club.

In 1868 the new U.S. Government-appointed Governor of Mississippi named John Roy Justice of the Peace, and John Roy hastened to learn law. He then got elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, which chose John Roy as Speaker of the House. He was still only twenty-four years old. In 1872, voters sent him to the U.S. House of Representatives. His own success belied the fact that there was still plenty of resistance to black advancement in the South, and violence by whites steadily increased. John Roy, however, continued throughout his long life to believe in the power of law to bring peace and justice.

John Roy Lynch’s story is followed by a timeline, an Author’s Note, Illustrator’s note, a list of references for further reading, and a map.

Illustrator Don Tate chose a “childlike, naive style of art,” as he explains in his note, in the hope that the more lighthearted style would help temper the harsh aspects of the story. I think he made a great decision. His watercolors are also framed in sepia, helping establish the historical nature of the story.

Evaluation: “Black history” has been dominated for so long by a very few figures, that it is great to see authors bringing attention to new trailblazers and role models. And as mentioned above, it is always very gratifying when an author does his or her research, and is not reluctant to figure out ways to share essential aspects of American history with younger ears.

Show Less

A great historical childrens books. This book will educate young children on the many accomplishments and sacrifices made by our ancestors

My fourth grader and I loved this book. It was a fantastic, interesting read and brought up lots of questions. He was a truly remarkable man. I love the accomplishments and determination he had to make a success of himself. I will be adding this to my Slavery/Antebellum Unit. Great Book!

This book had a lot of information on John Roy Lynch and the history of events. I liked this book because of the great details as it explained his journey throughout history. I also enjoyed the pictures a lot as well. I can see why this picture book made Texas bluebonnet for 2016-2017. If I have to

Show More

teach history then I will for sure but this book to read to my students if it's the appropriate grade level.

Show Less

This is the story of a man who went from being a slave to being a U.S. Congressman in just 10 years. There are very few books about the Reconstruction era for young people, especially when you compare it to the amazing wealth of books about slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. So, this book fills

Show More

a very important void. There is a lot to like about it- the straightforward language and lighthearted illustrations. I wish that the additional information given in the afterward was incorporated into the text. Sometimes the individual story of John Roy is too narrow and I want there to be more context. I think this book will raise a lot of questions for kids, and I wish I had more resources to give them to learn more.

Show Less