Bound To Stay Bound

Other - 11/03/2025 To create this moving erasure poem about nonviolent protest and more, Duncan works with the text of an October 1967 talk that Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) gave at South Philadelphia’s Barratt Junior High-per an opening note, text shaped "specifically for school-age children." Beginning "a blueprint serves as the pattern for those building a building," straightforward lines "suggest things that should be in your life’s blueprint," including celebrating the self, achieving excellence, seeking justice, and believing in nonviolence. Lewis combines gouache, markers, and watercolor with tissue paper to offer images of progress-on an early page, hands are shown drafting on blueprint paper; elsewhere, a figure is depicted having reached the top of a mountain. And as lines emphasize "MAKE A BETTER WORLD," one image shows a figure sitting atop a tall stack of paper with some sheets crumpled nearby. It’s a work poised to offer crucial guidance on how to build a meaningful life and contribute to the world. Figures are portrayed with various skin tones. Contextualizing notes conclude. Ages 7-10. (Jan.) - Copyright 2025

School Library Journal - 02/27/2026 Gr 2–5—A speech by Martin Luther King Jr. provides a solid foundation for this stirring call to young people. Duncan uses King's 1967 address as the basis for an erasure poem, editing the 1,765-word speech, originally delivered to middle schoolers, into a 277-word poem that celebrates Black youth and encourages readers to "transform injustice into justice." Through the metaphor of an architectural blueprint, the poem urges readers to devise detailed plans that will guide their lives and enable them to "make a better world." The blueprint theme is continued in Lewis's mixed-media illustrations, where building features such as staircases and open doors serve as symbols for an individual's endless potential. The climax of the book fuses the architectural symbolism with King's message of nonviolence in an arresting image of a raised fist holding an architect's triangular scale. Back matter provides additional historical context and offers instructions for readers who want to try composing their own erasure poems. VERDICT This creative and moving interpretation of a famous speech deserves a spot in all libraries.—Amy Reimann - Copyright 2026 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.