Publishers Weekly
★ 04/03/2023
In this pictorial stunner, debut creator Aberg-Riger demonstrates the U.S.’s continually expanding history via nonlinear chronology that covers ground between the late 18th century and the 21st century. In a beginning preface, the author writes that “this book is... an attempt at a new way of seeing history.” Seeking to personify this assertion, Aberg-Riger uses vibrant, mixed-media graphic collages combining maps, vintage magazine ads, and old photographs to present a kaleidoscopic visual accounting. An early section—“A Nation of Immigrants”—discusses the celebrity power of actor Lillian Russell, and how she used her status to rally against immigrants, resulting in the 1921 Emergency Quota Act, which instated an annual restriction on the number of immigrants admitted into the U.S. A later chapter, “Down on the Farm,” details stories about California workers fighting for the rights of Filipino laborers. By focusing on time as “a continual, ever-evolving relationship” rather than an immutable linear progression, Aberg-Riger examines how each individual story tackles issues surrounding identity in politics, allowing readers to make connections and interrogate how seemingly isolated societal struggles intersect with one another. This work enthralls from start to finish, culminating in a triumphant victory that tackles censorship and revisionist history. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jenny Stephens, Sterling Lord Literistic. (May)■
From the Publisher
"In this pictorial stunner, debut creator Aberg-Riger demonstrates the U.S.’s continually expanding history via nonlinear chronology that covers ground between the late 18th century and the 21st century. Aberg-Riger examines how each individual story tackles issues surrounding identity in politics, allowing readers to make connections and interrogate how seemingly isolated societal struggles intersect with one another. This work enthralls from start to finish, culminating in a triumphant victory that tackles censorship and revisionist history." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"This stellar offering combines startling facts, gripping prose, and appealing, vibrant collage illustrations that use photographs, maps, and other ephemera. Thought-provoking connections are made to today's burning issues, e.g., gun control, lack of affordable housing, and mass incarceration. Beautifully illustrated, riveting, enraging, and empowering: a must-read." — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"In this interactive, visually stunning compilation, Aberg-Riger assembles some of the stories U.S. history textbooks typically leave out. While the themes encompass difficult topics, Aberg-Riger concludes many chapters with ways activists have changed and continue to change the course of these ongoing issues in America. An essential resource to promote perspective and dialogue around American identity." — Booklist (starred review)
"American history come[s] alive in this powerful and innovative book. The imaginative use of colorful images on every page, incorporating bold, handwritten text into the pictures will engage the most reluctant readers. Aberg-Riger includes several stories of social activism, bringing a sense of empowerment to the narrative. An excellent resource for kicking off classroom discussions. The work is well documented with extensive source notes leading the curious to additional resources. Truly remarkable! A must for every library." — School Library Journal (starred review)
“America Redux is THE history book that belongs in every high school in America. Aberg-Riger has provided a necessary and insightful conversation about history that highlights the history makers we know so little about. America can’t know where it’s going unless it knows where it’s been, and America Redux is the ultimate guide for that.” — Angie Thomas, New York Times bestselling author of The Hate U Give
"America Redux is RAD. Incredible to look at and fascinating to read. It's also badass, brilliant, fun, super clever, and utterly unflinching when it comes to telling the real and often brutal histories of these United States." — Kate Schatz, New York Times-bestselling author of Rad American Women A-Z and Do the Work: An Antiracist Activity Book
“A fresh, evolving account of our shared history, using all the tools of visual storytelling to show the complexities, layers, and dimensions that make us who we are. Ariel has painted a new picture of our shared past, and while it is difficult and messy, the form is brilliant and gorgeous.” — Wendy MacNaughton, artist and graphic journalist
School Library Journal
★ 07/01/2023
Gr 8 Up—Aberg-Riger makes American history come alive in this powerful and innovative book. With vivid illustrations and unconventional text formatting, the book covers a wide variety of topics in 21 chapters. Some subjects will be familiar, such as the Japanese-American incarceration camps and racism in early Major League Baseball. Many are lesser known topics, such as the travels of Mustafa Al-Azemmouri, an enslaved man forced to explore the Southwest for the Spanish in the early 1500s. Another chapter chronicles how American businessmen conspired to overthrow the kingdom of Hawaii and annex their lands. Aberg-Riger frequently and skillfully demonstrates how these events have long-lasting consequences that we are still dealing with today. The chapter about the outlawing of boarding houses and SROs in the mid-20th century and its correlation to the current housing crisis and homelessness is particularly enlightening. Whether a new topic to readers or well-known, each chapter is informative and compelling. What really makes this work outstanding is the imaginative use of colorful images on every page, incorporating bold, handwritten text into the pictures. This dramatic and captivating format keeps the pages turning quickly and will engage the most reluctant readers. Perhaps equally important as the history brought to life is that Aberg-Riger includes several stories of social activism against the injustice, bringing a sense of empowerment to the narrative. An excellent resource for kicking off classroom discussions. The work is well documented with extensive source notes leading the curious to additional resources. VERDICT Truly remarkable! A must for every library.—Karen T. Bilton
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2023-03-29
“It’s not just the image that matters, but how it takes up space. It’s not just the event that matters, but how we shape the stories around it”: This illustrated journey through lesser-known and frequently erased parts of United States history vividly demonstrates these points.
Each of 21 chapters in this debut by visual storyteller Aberg-Riger provides information typically missing from standard retellings of the nation’s past. The opening chapter discusses the post–Civil War rise of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, White women who promoted their version of history through distorted content in textbooks used by millions of children through the 1970s. A chapter on the annexation of Hawai‘i connects present-day poverty and Native Hawaiian activism to the impacts of missionaries, the military, White plantation owners, and culturally exploitative tourism. Other chapters cover involuntary sterilization, urban renewal, toxic-waste dumping, HIV/AIDS, extractive mining on Native lands, and more. This stellar offering combines startling facts, gripping prose, and appealing, vibrant collage illustrations that use photographs, maps, and other ephemera. The typeface, designed by the author, looks handwritten, bringing a feeling of immediacy. The contributions of women, people of color, individuals with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ people are featured prominently. Thought-provoking connections are made to today’s burning issues, e.g., gun control, lack of affordable housing, and mass incarceration. The short chapters in this accessible work will pique readers’ interest in diving deeper to learn more about these challenging topics.
Beautifully illustrated, riveting, enraging, and empowering: a must-read. (image sources, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 13-adult)
