Today, I am pleased to be one of the stops on the blog tour for a new graphic novel from Random House, The Sons of Liberty! I am a huge fan of historical fiction and love to learn about our country's history, so when I heard about this book for kids, I had to jump on board the tour. History is fascinating to me, but it seems that more and more, the kids today, don't share that same fascination, and many of them don't know the history of our country. What better way to teach them, than through a graphic novel, which we all know is the rage with kids right now.
The Sons of Liberty is written by The Lagos Brothers, who have graciously stopped by today, to share their thoughts with you. Let's hear what they have to say, and then I'll share the book with you.
New Jersey in the 70’s was a unique place and time. We were the first to get the spill over and hype on all the big new comic books coming out of New York. Marvel was riding high and the creators made public appearances to which our parents happily delivered us.
I remember when they took us to St. Petersburg Park in Elizabeth. I was about five; Joseph was about nine. Stan Lee was there giving away free “Power Records”. These were comic books that you read along with a 45 rpm record. Joseph, being the older brother, had the luck of weaving his way through the throng of excited kids to engage this amazing creator. Mr. Lee shook his hand and yelled out “Excelsior!” I, unfortunately, was held back by our mother’s hand and had to watch the whole thing from the sidelines with big jealous eyes. Joseph came back from the crowd beaming and carrying about a dozen comics.
Back home we played the records and I sat next to my brother as he turned the page when the record would ding at the end of every scene. We were on cloud nine. The stories of good versus evil, masked vigilantes, secret identities and super powers swept us away. When we finished, I ran over and smashed my superhero action figures together. Joseph, on the other hand, was off on a flight of imagination, writing in his notebooks. Exhausted from beating the hell out of my toys, I jumped onto my bed and under my Spider-Man blankets and listened to my brother read his stories. And I was right back on cloud nine.
Joseph stuck with it and blossomed as a writer always sharing his incredible stories with me. Idolizing him, I tried to keep up; stapling notebook paper together and writing and drawing my own comic book adventures. Little did we know that all those years of sharing our imagination with each other would culminate into our writing of The Sons of Liberty. Funny thing is, I am still trying to keep up with him. I should have spent less time smashing my toys.
Graphic novels are a revolution in literature, and The Sons of Liberty is a graphic novel like no other. Visual and visceral, fusing historical fiction and superhero action, this is a tale with broad appeal-for younger readers who enjoy an exciting war story, for teenagers asking hard questions about American history, for adult fans of comic books, for anyone seeking stories of African American interest, and for reluctant readers young and old.
In Colonial America, Graham and Brody are slaves on the run-until they gain extraordinary powers. At first they keep a low profile. But their mentor has another idea-one that involves the African martial art dambe . . . and masks.
With its vile villains, electrifying action, and riveting suspense, The Sons of Liberty casts new light on the faces and events of pre-Revolution America, including Ben Franklin and the French and Indian War. American history has rarely been this compelling-and it's never looked this good.
You can follow the Lagos Brothers as they tour the blogosphere. Yesterday they stopped at Trouble with Comics, and tomorrow they will be at Largehearted Boy. You can also find them and everything you wanted to know about the book at their website, The Sons of Liberty.
Look for a review of this book later this week, but I do have an extra copy for giveaway. Please comment on this post about why you think you would like this book, and you'll be entered to win. If you tweet about it, post it on Facebook, or let me know you are a follower of this blog, you will gain an extra entry for each. You have until Thursday, June 3 at midnight, to enter.
4 comments:
I love history, and especially love exciting ways of learning about it. This looks awesome!
saz AT chainreader DOT com
I am a follower!
I totally know some kids who would love this book (I'd donate it to my SIL's 6th grade classroom library after I took a look at it myself).
srfbluemama[at]gmail[dot]com
I'm a follower.
I'm not usually a graphic novel girl but was given a copy of this at the Random House tour I took during BEA last week. I think the historical perspective is what will likely make it most appealing to me.
Looks interesting. Going to take a closer look later. Thanks!
www.a-pen-in-neverland.blogspot.com
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