What I Must Tell the World: How Lorraine Hansberry Found Her Voice
by Jay Leslie; illus. by Loveis Wise
Primary    Hillman Grad/Zando    48 pp.
10/24    9781638930693    $19.99

“Our stories can change the world.” Carl Hansberry’s words and courageous example were an inspiration to his daughter Lorraine (1930–1965). From a young age, Lorraine knew she wanted to share the stories that seemed to swirl around her in her Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville. Soon, she would come to understand racism in a very real way as her parents purchased a home in an all-white neighborhood, fighting all the way to the Supreme Court for their right to live there. Lorraine understood that she contained a multitude of stories and sought various avenues to share them, eventually settling on playwriting. With contemporaries such as James Baldwin and Langston Hughes, Hansberry rose to prominence as the first Black woman to open a play on Broadway: A Raisin in the Sun. This picture-book biography is a forthright and well-researched telling of Hansberry’s life story (though without source notes and likely with invented dialogue), including her queer identity as a lesbian. The illustrations are a rich, vibrant testimony to a trailblazing writer and activist. Boldly colored spreads highlight Hansberry and the people and relationships in her life and draw viewers into the scenes. Readers will find here a seminal message from the writer’s experience: embrace who you are and live your truth; your story matters.

From the January/February 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.