This was a pretty good retelling of Huck Finn. The illustrations are really great and detailed. I would have loved this version when I was a younger kid.

GoodNESS! What a tearjerker, eh? I certainly don’t want to spoil it, but I about lost it during the visions. I think that is vague enough for y’all to get good and curious. This was so well written that I started questioning whether I knew the story of Huckleberry Finn. I had an absolute blast with this graphic novel. There is such an exceptional amount of United States history, even a few tidbits that would make people clutch their metaphorical pearls.

This is such a beautiful, consumable way of teaching. Honestly, younger generations would eat up history if presented in this manner. I know this was a retelling; however, there was a lot mentioned that should be considered in textbooks.

What a treat of an ARC! Thank you, Netgalley!

David F Walker has created an intriguing look at American fiction. This take on Mark Twain promises and delivers an interesting text. Finally a version of this story that I would not mind teaching in my classroom.

Thank you to Ten Speed Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the arc for this deeply thought provoking, informative graphic novel. Like their earlier work on the Black Panthers, David F. Walker and Marcus Kwame Anderson challenge the reader to expand their thinking on the Mark Twain novel "Huckleberry Finn". This is not a comfortable graphic novel, however it is one that should be paired with the novel it expands on and discussed in depth with high school students in American Literature. The opportunity to address common themes such as the reliability of a narrator, the author's purpose, the use of now offensive language, etc. should not be missed. It is highly likely I will reread this graphic novel when we purchase it for our collection, as well as ask to attend the appropriate grade level English PLC to share this work with teachers.

A smart, savvy retelling - inevitably many will compare to Percival Everett's James, but to me this has a very different feel and works for an audience of wider age groups.

Wow! This graphic novel is my introduction to the author and illustrator and it exceeded my expectations. I’ll admit, based on the title, I wasn’t expecting much; but it delivered on so many levels. Much like Percival Everett’s James, this is a reimagining of the character, Jim, featured in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and addresses the tale from Jim’s perspective. It gives us a holistic view of his life as a family man (father, brother, uncle), soldier, freedom fighter, community leader, and enslaved man. We learn about his loves, losses, wants, and needs within the context of the Twain novel and beyond. Poetic liberties were taken, and I was all for it – we get modern day views from his (fictional) descendants, who relied on oral histories to counter the stereotypical and racist propaganda promoted in various forms of media.

Recommended for middle-grade and up.

Thanks to the publisher, Ten Speed Graphics, and NetGalley for the opportunity to review.

This is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn from Jim’s point of view. The author, who is Black, says that he brought in family history, stories passed down, as did his co-author. Some stories are not in the history books, and that is how the stories of families travel through the generations, when things were not written down.

I have always hated stories where the characters are made to speak in dialogue that is not natural for them, that it makes them the other, to whomever is telling the story. Look, how ignorant they are, that they dont’ speak proper English. Kate Beaton gave a wonderful lecture on this very topic where her people of Kate Breton were made to look like country bumpkins by the writers from the main part of Canada.

The only time that Jim talks in dialect, is when he is trying to hide from white men who would do him harm if he showed intelligence.
I love this retelling. It makes more sense, and the story is told in the present, in the near past, and when the story took place. That may sound odd, but it all works well together.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book will be published on the 15th of October 2024.