I'm not sure why, but this book just didn't work for me. I didn't feel invested and I'm not sure the novel in verse format worked here. I"m also not sure how well I could push this into the hands of middle graders.

Doing a clean-up of NetGalley and any long-lingering non-feedback titles! Apologies for never getting to read this; don't even think I downloaded it in time. I appreciate being approved, and do apologise again.

Favorite quote: “You don’t know my face or my name, but the day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, I became a foot soldier: a doer , a worker, an everyday activist in the civil rights movement.”
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Here’s my first 2022 book by an author from my hometown of Memphis that had me geeked. I adored this book.

This book was soo inspiring! I love my black history and the fact that I got to get more insight into the author's view of the march! I loved the verse text as well as the pictures! I would highly put this book in my library at my job!

Thank you to Clarion Books, Versify, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book.

Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round is a middle-grade memoir about the inception of Martin Luther Kind Day as a federal holiday. Though not at all surprised, I had no idea of the long road the author and thousands of others traveled to make MLK Day possible. I was also shocked to learn that Stevie Wonder played a major role in bringing it to fruition! I'll never hear his version of Happy Birthday the same way again. The book is full of historical photographs that bring the past to life. It would be a wonderful addition to classrooms and libraries alike. It's a fascinating piece of history.

If your school experience was anything like mine, you heard just a few stories about the Civil Rights Movement every February: Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., school integration, and that was about it. I certainly was never taught about the movement to make Martin Luther King Day a holiday. Kirkwood presents her own experience with activism throughout her childhood and into her adulthood. Her story is presented in narrative form using the verse novel format. This means that it tends to be more about emotions and impressions than actions and may help young readers connect with these ideas on a more personal level. The text is accompanied by photos from the time period, adding to the atmosphere.

Book: Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round: My Story of the Making of Martin Luther King Day
Author: Kathlyn J. Kirkwood
Publication Info: January 4, 2022, Clarion Books
Genres: Children’s/Middle Grade, Nonfiction, Memoir/Bio, Prose/Poetry, African American History

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for honest feedback. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NG.

This young reader’s book is a memoir-in-verse story about Kathlyn Kirkwood’s experience in advocating for making Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday a national holiday in the United States. It talks of civil awareness and political participation from youth to adulthood.

The prose reads essentially like a narrative poem. There are photos interwoven throughout the story. There is a glossary at the end of this book that includes definitions of highlighted keywords and an infographic on how a bill becomes a law.

My review is based on the book itself, not necessarily the content in terms of the story told. I think that this is a really interesting and important story and I don’t really have any business critiquing that side of things. Being me, I requested this book thinking it was a graphic nonfiction based on the cover. When I started reading and realized it was more of a poetic prose with some pictures, I was a bit skeptical if I’d like the style. I think the author is very talented and told her life experiences in a beautiful way. She has lived an exceptional life and what struck me the most was the timeline of these events. It seems like it was quite some time ago for those of us who have not known anything but MLK Day being a thing. For others, that is not the case. This is why I really loved reading this book. It was both educational and evocative.

Wow-what a powerful novel in verse! I absolutely devoured this memoir. It is an important one too. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for sharing.

Thanks to Colored Pages Blog Tours for making this book available to me as part of the blog tour.

This book is an exploration of the passing of Martin Luther King Jr's Day as a federal holiday. The marches, the civil right movements, Jim crow law and the solidarity that every African American was a part of. Their fight for justice and visibility. This book was beautifully written in prose, through different stages of Kathlyn (author) life from a high school student to an adult. We get to see how long it took for the remembrance law to be passed and the oneness of the Black spirit.

I really loved it. As a non-American, I have never really thought too deeply about how hard it must have been for a Black icon to be remembered for his role in fighting slavery, disproportionate income and mistreatment of Black workers.

It is a message and diary of perseverance, hope and loyalty to oneself, community and the beliefs that ties us all together

Kathlyn J. Kirkwood was 17 when she participated in march for the Memphis Sanitation Workers Strike. The following day, April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King, who had led the march, was assassinated. Rioting, chaos, and military oppression ensued. She wondered if maybe Dr King was right when he said,

"A riot is the language of the unheard”

In this memoir Kirkwood personalizes the movement to honour Dr King with a federal holiday. She outlines the ongoing struggle to bring forth the King Bill into law. It took 15 years. Her life continued on with university, marriage, work, and children. She honours the many people who worked hard to make it happen, especially Stevie Wonder and the role he played.

I did not know that his Happy Birthday song was about Dr King.

https://youtu.be/vClQMdFhh5U

I got shivers reading about the passage of the bill through congress, the senate, and being signed into law by President Reagan in 1986.

I appreciated the integration of posters, photographs, maps, petitions, tickets and other memorabilia that connects to what was happening at the time.

I especially like what Kathlyn has to say about the role of foot soldiers - ordinary people who work for a cause without recognition.

"After watching my parents and sisters stand firm on the battlefield for various causes, I learned taht you don't have to be famous to make a difference. Ordinary, everyday people with committed spirits and determined hearts can change the world."

Even before this quote, I was already inspired by her idea of foot soldiers. It makes me think about what I can do as a foot soldier in the movement to stop climate change and bring in a new green deal.

This memoir in verse is the perfect read as we near Martin Luther King's birthday, January 15th.

If I was still working in my school library, I'd purchase two copies.

A fascinating memoir from activist Kathlyn Kirkwood, who helped make Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday a federal holiday. The pictures and stories make this real-life story accessible to middle-grade readers and reminds ALL of us that we can fight for things that matter to us.

I do love learning about history as well as books with prose and so I enjoyed this book. I had never learned about how Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday became a national holiday and I’m glad I was given this opportunity to read and review this book. With that being said it really did surprise me how long it took to make King’s birthday a national holiday). The numerous pictures included was also a nice touch. The book was set up nicely. At first I wasn’t a fan of the format, but I did come to appreciate and I do think the prose was the best way to write this particular story.
Using prose to tell this story was a smart idea especially since music and songs were a big part of this story. Both of the quotes before the story were chosen beautifully and the both set up the story well.

This is a quick, digestible, powerful middle grade memoir in verse about the power of freedom fighters who are not household names to effect change, told through the lens of Kathlyn Kirkwood's real-life advocacy to establish a federal holiday honoring Dr. King. Interspersed with photos from her life, Kathlyn tells about her experience with a local workers' strike that drew the attention of Dr. King and first sparked the flame of her activism. She talks about her preparation for another strike and march, when the devastating news of Dr. King's assassination hit the airwaves. She talks about her life after that, along with many others who spent years fighting for recognition for Dr. King's work, how she stepped off that path for a while to raise a family and then was ultimately drawn back to it. The most poignant message for me, and I think for many young readers, is that Kathlyn is not a common name that we hear when it comes to civil rights. And in fact, there are thousands, millions of people who were fighting alongside Kathlyn and whose names we will likely never know. But those people who are not "famous," who aren't aiming for performative activism and are focused on the end goal, are so powerful and important to the causes that matter most in society. What a lovely way to start off the new year.

This is an accessible, interesting way to help frame both historical context and provide a call to action for why advocating for others is so important. It will help children have tough conversations with adults. Students will enjoy this narrative non-fiction in verse more than a traditional non-fiction books. Teachers can use it as a fresh take on Martin Luther King Day and a springboard for so many standards.

This is a very easy to read story of how Martin Luther King Day became a holiday.

It starts with the first march that the author participated in. In short, simple sentences, she explains why she did it, and how it was.

She also talks about how important it was to have a holiday celebrating Dr. King, after he was assassinated in her own home town.

It was not an easy thing. It was not cut and dried, and it wasn't until President Reagan that the holiday became law, and even then it had to wait three more years.

What I didn't know, or didn't remember, was that Stevie Wonder was instrument in helping push to have this holiday. That he did concerts, and kept the foot soldiers going, to push their congressional representatives to pass the law.

Well written, and easy to read. Hopefully this will be a good introduction on how bills are passed, and how people together can make them happen.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. </em>

I appreciate #NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review Kathlyn J. Kirkwood's MG novel Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me 'Round: My Story of the Making of Marting Luther King Day. I enjoyed this novel, written in verse. I feel like I should have known more about the origins of the Martin Luther King holiday. The photos and artifacts included were especially powerful in getting the author's message across.

This memoir in verse is a quick, powerful read about the fight to Martin Luther King Jr. recognized as federal holiday. It's short length will help draw in reluctant readers. The resources at the back are perfect for classroom use and the casual reader who wants to learn more.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was educational, age appropriate, and engaging to read. I would read it again and recommend it to my friends that are teachers that would appreciate having a book like this one in their classroom.

“Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ‘Round: My Story of the Making of Martin Luther King Day” is a memoir-in-verse by Kathlyn J. Kirkwood, with illustrations bhy Steffi Walthall. This middle grade book is a well written first-person account that details the long fight to have Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy honored with a federal holiday. The book begins in the year 1968, when Kirkwood was a Memphis high school student, a clarinet player, and a “foot soldier” for the Civil Rights movement and ends in January of 1986 when Martin Luther King Jr. Day became an official federal holiday. Kirkwood does a deft job balancing her personal story against the larger backdrop of a changing American narrative . This book would be a great companion text with “Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the Selma Voting Rights March” by Lynda Blackmon Lowery and “This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality” by Jo Ann Allen Boyce.

I love how this books shows how people continued to march on after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's death. This one is important in helping readers learn about history and understand that others can carry on the greatness.