Reconstruction Junction

by Bentley Boyd

The end of the American Civil War is not the end of the conflict between Northern states and Southern states. The battlefield shooting is over, but the political arguments over civil rights go on, sometimes with new violence between whites and black citizens. It is a confusing and dark time as Americans try to put their broken nation back together. The lessons learned (and missed) in the Reconstruction Era will affect American history for another 100 years. This colorful graphic novel will excite reluctant readers, prepare students for standardized tests in history and help homeschooling parents!

24 pages, Paperback

First published August 19, 2007

About the author

There was no class at Harvard University to learn how to draw a talking crab on Patrick Henry’s shoulder.

But I’ve strung together ideas and curiosity and a little bit of talent for 30 years now and have used comix to teach several generations of young people about American history and civics.

When I was a kid desperate to buy a comic book — ANY comic I could find — I didn’t think we’d ever really get to live in a science fiction world with a computer in every pocket and dedicated comic book stories packed with a rainbow of books of all shapes and sizes. I did dream, though. I devoured the daily newspaper and its comix before I delivered the paper every morning. I read biographies all summer long. I wrote fiction for myself and nonfiction for the school newspapers. I drew my own characters in my own comix (and quickly realized I don’t have the patience for drawing complicated city skylines — so a career with Batman was out). My early career centered on being a political cartoonist for newspapers. An opportunity in 1995 allowed me to transform that work into Chester the Crab and my dream of graphic storytelling.