Book review: 'We Shall Overcome: A Song That Changed the World' by Stuart Stotts

WE SHALL OVERCOME

A Song That Changed the World

By Stuart Stotts

Illustrated by Terrance Cummings

Clarion. $18, ages 8-12

Powered by its straightforward melody and generous procession of verses, "We Shall Overcome" has covered a lot of ground. Developing out of a Southern spiritual called "I'll Be All Right" into an international anthem of perseverance, the song has proved to be a potent unifying force for people in trying circumstances. Stuart Stotts rightly focuses on the song's role in the civil rights movement, but he explains its earlier ties to gospel singing and the labor movement. Stotts quotes civil rights workers on the strength they gained from singing the song in groups, often holding hands with arms crossed in front. As Sweet Honey in the Rock's Bernice Reagon recalls, you had to move closer together to sing it this way. Another worker faced a crowd of KKK members in Mississippi: "We must have sung 'We Shall Overcome' for thirty minutes. . . . It put you in touch with a larger self that couldn't be killed." The book is also visually engaging, filled with Terrance Cummings's compelling black-white-and-red images of struggle and with period photographs that capture both the upheaval and the uplift of the times. The song's music and lyrics and a CD featuring Pete Seeger's influential version fill out the package, likely leading young readers to other rousing renditions.

-- Abby McGanney Nolan