Feed Your Mind: A Story of August Wilson

Using a theatrical framework of acts and scenes, Bryant assembles resonant moments into an inspired collage of the life of playwright August Wilson (1945–2005), from childhood to maturity. Chronologically ordered single-spread scenes each focus on a specific impactful moment—winning but then being denied a new washing machine due to Wilson’s “family name and address,” struggles with racist classmates, reading in the library after Wilson drops out of school, choosing a pen name for himself, and shifting forms from poems to plays. Wilson’s passion for words and attention to the world around him emerge in Bryant’s lyrical telling: “He reads with delight and with a fearsome hunger, like a guest at a royal feast.” Chapman’s layered multimedia illustrations in muted primary colors adroitly combine pattern, line, and whimsy to transform telling details into revealing images. An author’s note and timeline conclude. Ages 6–9. [em](Nov.) [/em]