
Joining the ranks of picture books about unsung trailblazers is Make Your Mark: The Empowering True Story of the First Known Black Female Tattoo Artist. In it, debut author Jacci Gresham, who holds the distinction cited in the book's subtitle, zestfully tells her story with likewise-debuting collaborator Sherry Fellores, with illustrations by David Wilkerson (the Leaders Like Us series).
Gresham was an art-loving kid who drew outside the lines. In middle school, she was the only girl in her drafting class and went on to study architecture and engineering, landing a job at General Motors in Detroit; still, she longed to "create something curvy, squiggly, and totally my style." When she got laid off, she moved to New Orleans, where she decided to become a tattoo artist and open a shop with a friend--even though she had no experience giving tattoos and wasn't aware of any other Black tattoo artists. Gresham became a stabilizing neighborhood presence and helped pull her community together when Hurricane Katrina hit in 2005; she used "my art and the work of my life to spread peace."
Make Your Mark will likely enlighten even those for whom tattoos are a common sight. Some readers may be unaware, say, of the special tattooing considerations for people with dark skin or that it was once socially unacceptable for women to have tattoos. The book's encouraging subheads ("Express Yourself"; "Do What Scares You") are unnecessary: Gresham's narration, coupled with Wilkerson's vivacious art in the full range of tattoo-ink colors, is sufficiently galvanizing. --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author