Invincible

2024 Kansas NEA Reading Circle List

★ “Arriving at a time when Black history is being challenged around the country, Invincible is a powerful, gorgeous testimony of resistance. The language is unadorned, the tone insistent; Lewis’ illustrations are infused with a power that is strikingly different from the tender watercolors of his earlier works. The clarity of the narrative, complemented by the artwork, makes this complicated and contradictory reality accessible to young readers and will spark many important conversations about who we are as a people, as well as who we should strive to be. A necessary addition to all classrooms and libraries.” —Booklist, starred review

“With admiration and unflinching detail, the author explores the early years of Black America…Hudson’s text is lyrical and lively, and the unique focus on the early years of creating what is now known as Black America results in a welcome addition to children’s bookshelves…A solid offering affirming Black American identity.” —Kirkus Reviews

“The spare but evocative text outlines the efforts of Black people to create spaces for themselves in a country where freedom was held out of their reach…[A]n emotional introduction to the experiences of Black people in the U.S.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Hudson and Lewis honor the ‘brave Black pioneers who built… Black America’ in this picture book overview…Watercolor and gouache illustrations from Lewis are partially obliterated by rough opaque strokes of white until the timeline of Black America emerges in saturated hues.” —Publishers Weekly

“In straightforward prose laced with reverence and pride, Hudson offers the reader this ode, this manifesto, that celebrates the forefathers and foremothers of Black America, honoring all that has been and all that is to come. A must-have addition to every library.” —Renée Watson, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author, The 1619 Project: Born on the Water

‘Wade Hudson has plumbed the past to present a pantheon of African American pioneers, and he has restored them to their rightful place among our country’s founding fathers and mothers. Now, Black children will know the greatness of their ancestors who fought for freedom and overcame seemingly insurmountable odds. And all children will be introduced to overlooked activists and achievers who helped shape this nation and its values.”—Carole Boston Weatherford, Coretta Scott King Award winner, author of Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre

Wade Hudson is the author of numerous books for children, including the memoir Defiant- Growing Up in the Jim Crow South, and is also the co-editor of the critically acclaimed collection Recognize!- An Anthology Honoring and Amplifying Black Life. He and his wife Cheryl are not only frequent co-authors, but also the co-founders and publishers of Just Us Books, a company dedicated to publishing books geared toward Black children.

E. B. Lewis is the illustrator of more than seventy books for children and the recipient of a Caldecott Honor and an Orbis Pictus Award, along with many others. His recent titles include Seeking Freedom by Selene Castrovilla and Lizzie Demands a Seat by Beth Anderson, which won Bank Street College of Education’s Flora Stieglitz Straus Award for excellence in nonfiction, along with many other honors.

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