This picture book, The Undefeated, by Kwame Alexander and Kadir Nelson, is profoundly beautiful. My library has it categorized under poetry, and it is that, too. Every word hits home, powerfully, meaningfully, the cadence spot on with the page turn. But it’s also nonfiction, each double page spread showing historical figures such as Jesse Owens, Trayvon Martin, and Ella Fitzgerald, and historical events such as black soldiers in the Civil War. The Undefeated is also a book about ideas: freedom, justice, resilience.
An Education in Books Blog 