This was a very well done graphic novel. The art was really good. I also liked the way that it reimagined the classic that is Huck Finn. It was very well done. I also liked the nonlinear timeline and how we got all the different pieces to put together. I think this is a must read for classic buffs.

This is a retelling of the banned American classic Huckleberry Finn. Big Jim and Huck are recounting their version of historical events, to their grandchildren. In turn, Big Jim’s great granddaughter is sharing the story with her daughter.

The authors did an excellent job of keeping the interest of the readers and I can see them buddy reading it alongside their own children. The story is well written and the characters are engaging. My favorite is a tie between Big Jim and Huck, whereas my least favorite is Joe Finn. The best part of the story is how the two main characters connect.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book. These opinions are completely my own

I never liked Mark Twain's writing, but this I enjoyed.

I loved history behind the story and how the author's made it there own.

The story of Huck Finn from Jim's point of view. This was a brilliant idea and executed extremely well. Mixing in true historical facts made this a learning experience as well. I could not stop reading this once I started. It should have a spot in school libraries across the country.

Big Jim and the White Boy is a Huck Finn graphic retelling from Jim's perspective. Percival Everett published James this year, another retelling from Jim's perspective, and though the output is drastically different, the intention remains the same: to reimagine Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by giving voice and humanity to Jim. This graphic achieves this by integrating history and context, including vignettes where an elderly Huck and Jim look back on the story and fix the narrative to what "really" happened. It is insightful and expanded beyond the narrative of Huck Finn into the greater implications of the lives of these two people through history. It is immensely interesting and a valuable addition to Huck Finn's evolving legacy, one which now includes Jim/James as he was meant to be heard.
Layout and illustrations were visually appealing and well done. I see this as an excellent source to teach alongside James or Huck Finn.
Thanks to NetGalley and Ten Speed Graphic for this ARC!

"That man stole my life and made me out to be a fool." - Jim commenting on author Mark Twain.

This is an interesting reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with Huck and Jim as avenging action heroes. There were places where I tuned out, but on the whole, it works. My favorite parts were the dynamic duo as old men, telling their tales and busting on each other before an appreciative audience of youngsters.

Big Jim and the White Boy by David F. Walker is a reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn written in a graphic novel format. The full-color illustrations are stunning. They are vibrant, colorful, and show great detail in the facial expressions of the characters. I appreciated the author’s note on the use of the n-word and his decision to leave it in this version of the story. The book gives scholarly insight into Mark Twain and his works. It talks about what Twain left out of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn -things such as the fact that Jim had a family as well as other details that work to strip Jim of his humanity.. The author's focus on the artificial and racist dialect Mark Twain chose to use for Jim in Huckleberry Finn was also impactful.

I read the digital version of this book but recommend the print version because the book has different timelines that go back and forth throughout. I think having a physical copy that you can flip between the timelines would make it easier to keep the storylines straight.


Thanks to Clarkson Potter, Ten Speed Press, and NetGalley for a review copy of Big Jim and the White Boy.

If I could give this all the stars I would. What an absolute gem of a graphic novel. Tears were shed and I appreciate both the authors notes in the beginning and the resources in the back. I love this and will be recommending widely thank you to NetGalley for the arc.

Big Jim and the White Boy is not merely a reimagining of the Twain classic, but a conversation with it- and with history.

By centering and giving depth to Jim, David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson remind us that history is not just about concepts but human beings- that the triumphs and horrors of the past aren't just theoretical but had very real human consequences.

Anderson and Walker also managed to walk an incredibly thin line in producing a TRUE all-ages book* without sugar coating difficult topics.

This book could be used as a centerpiece for discussions of U.S. history and social structure in schools and at home.

Bravo!

*True All-Ages: A work that not only is with minimal content that may be inappropriate for children, but that has a true appeal to people of all ages.
Ex. Jeff Smith's Bone, Matt Groening's The Simpsons, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

This is a powerful retelling of Twain. We have already ordered a copy for our library and we can't wait to share it with our patrons.

This is more than just a re-imagining of the characters of Huckleberry Finn. It's the story of a friendship, of family, and of never giving up hope. Big Jim and the White Boy follows the "real" Jim and Huck through their journey down the Mississippi and through the Civil War, as well as the impact their tale had upon Jim's descendants.

The multiple interwoven narratives mix fact and fiction, drawing on real historical figures, just as Twain did in his creation of Jim and Huck. The story flows like the Mississippi itself, gentle and strong, and the pureness of the art style belies the depth each character is given.

I loved this graphic novel that takes the story of Huckleberry Finn and focuses it on the possible historically accurate life of a slave named Jim. I think this story is really special as it highlights the relationship between Jim and Huck throughout their whole lives, not just the book, and it focuses on Jim as a person, not just a slave. I also love Mark Twain and still appreciated the authors’ discussion of how he “sugarcoated” slavery in the original book. My only complaint is that it was hard to keep up with all of the different timelines as the book jumps around from Jim’s great-great-great granddaughter’s POV, to his great-great granddaughter’s POV, to his and Huck’s POV as old men, to the 1850s when the original book took place. It’s a really cool idea, but it was hard to read!

Thank you so much for the eARC of this graphic novel! I really enjoyed reading it and getting to know another (often overlooked) side of history. I thought the art was very beautifully done, the story was easy to follow, and the characters were well-developed. I liked how seamlessly the different timelines were woven together and how it was more than just a retelling; it became a story of family and highlighted the importance of oral history, especially for historically marginalized communities. I definitely recommend this book!

Timely in concept and in choice of format/venue. The artwork is inviting and effective. A valuable addition to the ongoing discussion of how a standard in the American Literary canon can be visited and revisited as we grow and change as a nation.

Absolutely gorgeous book that focuses on the actual historical context in which Huckleberry Finn took place, and actually focuses on Jim as a character (which obviously didn't happen in the original material). There are a few times where you can tell you're about to have some education dropped on you, but honestly, this hits home and is gorgeously told. Definitely worth your time.

Definitely a great read for me. It was hard to read because of the strong language and the timeline of it but I felt that it was also a necessary read for me. I am not someone who likes reading classics since I feel that the language is a bit outdated but I really enjoyed this retelling of a classic novel. It also goes to show that many black people’s stories were forgotten about because once upon a time, black people were not considered human. This also showed me that it is important to tell the stories of your life and the ones who came before you. This is how it stays alive and gets told to many generations to come.

Thank you, NetGalley for an advanced ARC of this graphic novel

Where do I begin...

Well I went into this thinking I would see a different aspect but I was a little uncomfortable reading this book and I see what is trying to be said but I didn't really like this much.

A fictional retelling presents the story of Big Jim (Huck’s friend) in a different light from the classic Huckleberry Finn tale by Mark Twain. The story is heartbreaking to visually see in graphic form the struggles that African-Americans suffered during slavery and fight for their freedom. In this story, Big Jim is searching for his wife and children who were sent down the Mississippi River. Throughout the story, we are brought back and forth through the generations, starting in the 1850s during Big Jim and Huck’s travels, into the 1930s where they tell children of their journey, and to the modern day where a descendant of Big Jim’s teaches a college course on their journey and struggles.

This is Huckleberry Finn from Jim's perspective. It interestingly jumps from the story of Huck Finn and Jim to Jim telling his story to his grandkids, and jumps again to one of those grandchildren telling it to her grandchild.
Not only does this story give Jim the credit and depth of character he deserved in the original works. I loved how it was intertwined with generational storytelling.

Big Jim and the White Boy by David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson is a loosely based remaining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain. I like that the cover has Big Jim as the focal point of the imagery, and even the positoning of his body conveys his protectiveness of Huckleberry Finn. The story still takes place in the same racist era, but the story is told from the perspective of Big Jim. This book is a middle grade book, so the topics are explored in age-appropriate way that is understandable. In this book, Jim and Huck's relationship is more throughly explored with Jim's role being more of a caregiver who is genuinely protective of Huck. Jim being given more depth in this story and the reader gets to see him have more control of his story. This is a big contrast to the original story that, at times, portrayed Jim as of a lower intelligence than Huck and irresponsibly being led by a child on misadventures down the Mississippi River. While Twain's original put racism more as background noise in the story (it wasn't a real focal point), this story doesn't allow the reader to look away from the cruelties happening but it also is executed in a way that doesn't overwhelm the reader.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.