Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song

An inspiring picture-book biography of iconic singer and activist Miriam Makeba by National Book Award winner Kathryn Erskine.

Miriam Makeba, a Grammy Award-winning South African singer, rose to fame in the hearts of her people at the pinnacle of apartheid--a brutal system of segregation similar to American Jim Crow laws. Mama Africa, as they called her, raised her voice to help combat these injustices at jazz clubs in Johannesburg; in exile, at a rally beside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.; and before the United Nations.

Set defiantly in the present tense, this biography offers readers an intimate view of Makeba's fight for equality. Kathryn Erskine's call-and-response style text and Charly Palmer's bold illustrations come together in a raw, riveting duet of protest song and praise poem. A testament to how a single voice helped to shake up the world--and can continue to do so.

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (Byr)
Published: 10/10/2017
Pages: 48
Weight: 0.9lbs
Size: 11.30h x 8.10w x 0.50d
ISBN: 9780374303013
Age: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.9
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 195718 / Mama Africa!: How Miriam Makeba Spread Hope with Her Song


Award: Coretta Scott King Award - Winner
Award: John Steptoe New Talent Award - Winner


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 08/15/2017 pg. 175
School Library Journal 09/01/2017
Booklist 09/15/2017 pg. 46
Publishers Weekly 10/09/2017
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2017 pg. 120
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 11/01/2017
Hornbook Guide to Children 01/01/2018 - Outstanding, Noteworthy In Style

About the Author

Kathryn Erskine is the National Book Award-winning author of Mockingbird. She has also written Seeing Red, The Absolute Value of Mike, and The Badger Knight. She lived in South Africa for part of her childhood, and grew up listening to Miriam Makeba's songs. Mama Africa! is her first picture book.

Charly Palmer is a graphic designer, illustrator, and fine artist. As a child, he was fascinated by Ezra Jack Keats's illustrations for The Snowy Day, which inspired Charly's own use of color and geometric shapes. He studied art and design at the American Academy of Art and the School of the Art Institute, both in Chicago. Mama Africa! is his first picture book.