First sentence: Before John Robert Lewis was old enough to read the word "love" in his Bible, he could feel it all around him.

Premise/plot: Fighting with Love is a nonfiction picture book biography of civil rights activist [and politician], John Lewis.

My thoughts: There are a handful of picture book biographies of John Lewis. In fact, I think there are biographies of John Lewis for just about every age reader--children, middle grade, young adult, adult. I have read a few of these in the past. I wasn't expecting to learn something new. [Be reminded of previous facts, yes, yes, always yes. My memory doesn't hold onto all the details from every book.] What struck me with this picture book is the spread about how the activists [college students mainly] PRACTICED nonviolent protests.

Quote: They took turns playing the part of the angry whites they would face, and acted out standing silently while being shouted and cursed at. They practiced how to curl in tight on the ground to protect themselves from kicks and punches that would beat down on them. They remembered to look into the eyes of their attackers, reminding them that a child of God was looking back. After hearing the words and feeling the fists, some never finished their training at Highlander, leaving as fast as they'd come, asking what kind of love means you've got to be beaten up outside and in. But John knew. "It is love that accepts and embraces the hateful and the hurtful." And so, John stayed and practiced some more.

The illustrations are quite engaging--bright, bold, colorful, ( )

"Election day meant Whites Only could pick the laws, mayors, and presidents. John hated that colored folks had to stick to picking cotton."

"When you see something that's not right...you have to do something." --John Lewis

From the author's note: These momentous events [Brown vs. Board, Freedom Riders, Bloody Monday, Selma march, Montgomery bus boycott, Voting Rights Act] in Lewis's formative years motivated his lifelong quest to change a system of injustice, corruption, inequality, and discrimination.

Time line, quote sources, selected bibliography.

Illustration: collage with "found, painted, and purchased papers with pencil drawing." ( )