"Most folks my age and complexion don't speak much about the past," the book begins. "Many of us are getting up in age and feel it's time to make some things known before they are gone for good." As with his history of the Negro Leagues, We Are the Ship, author and Caldecott Honor artist Kadir Nelson uses personal stories to make a sweeping history feel intimate. Pap, the narrator's African-born grandfather, achieves the heroic status of Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King, Jr. Members of the narrator's family were soldiers in the Civil War and World War II but did not enjoy the freedoms of the people for whom they fought. The book ends with optimism, as the narrator casts her vote in 2008 for Barack Obama. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness