A Wreath for Emmett Till - Marilyn Nelson

Genres: Biography, Poetry
Grades 7 & up

A Wreath for Emmett Till by Marilyn Nelson is a short book that contains a poem about Emmett Till, a fourteen year old African American boy that was brutally murdered in Mississippi in 1955. His murder caused an uproar amongst people of all colors in the United States. The style of poem Nelson wrote is called a crown of sonnets – it is fifteen sonnets, the last line of each being the first line of the next and the final sonnet is the combination of the first lines of the other poems. It was an interesting way to write a poem. The poem is great, but my favorite part of this book is the illustrations by Phillipe Lardy. They help illustrate what Nelson is writing while leaving the reader enough space to visualize.

All in all this was a nice book. The power of this book is that it will hopefully prompt a new generation to investigate the Emmett Till story. If you are interested in learning more about Emmett Till you should check out this site.