A Change Is Gonna Come

K-Gr 2–Honoring the difficult past of American history while celebrating the strength and pride of the Black experience, this title focuses on the promise of the future and the fact, as Cooke’s timeless lyrics tell readers, “I know a change is going to come. Oh yes it will.” The art masterfully captures the heart and hope of the fictional and historical characters throughout the book. With a nod to the photographs of Gordon Parks, Smith has captured and added layers of depth to many historical moments that, along with the accompanying back matter, will have readers poring over the illustrations and learning through looking. The use of Cooke’s text (first released in a recording from 1964) to capture this history is powerful and hopeful. On one particularly moving spread the text speaks of change; one side of the illustration features a mother and her five children holding various protest signs for housing and education rights and a call back to the broken promise of “40 acres and a mule.” The opposite page shows the five children wearing graduation gowns, throwing their mortarboards in the air in front of their family-owned restaurant. Their mother is in the background. This title begs for multiple readings, along with scanning the included QR code that links to a recording of Cooke’s iconic rendition of this anthem.