No Crystal Stair in Mock Printz 2026

Mar 21, 2012 elissa rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, 2012favorites, my_10s_reads, historicalfiction, capitol_choices_archives, biography

I guess documentary novel (in the subtitle) about covers it. Fascinating look at the life of Lewis Michaux, who ran an extremely influential bookstore in Harlem for more than 3 decades. I love that this was written by his great-niece (the granddaughter of his brother Norris). I read part of it a couple of months ago and it took me a long time to get back to it, but when I finally picked it back up, I had a hard time putting it down. Also, the other 3 people in my family all enjoyed this, too.

Loo ...more

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Jul 05, 2012 Kathy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical, tbl-mock-newbery-2013

"And the books. The books. They're still here but, without you, when I open them, the pages seem blank."

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Nov 09, 2012 Samantha rated it really liked it

Shelves: teen, new-york, african-american

The story of legendary bookseller Lewis Michaux. He set up shop in Harlem in the 1930s with the mission to inspire black folks to read. His National Memorial African Bookstore was well-known to black authors and historical figures such as Malcolm X. Amassing a collection of over 200,000 volumes by or relating to African Americans, Michaux's store was eventually driven out of business when plans for a new government building pushed his store out of the neighborhood. His legend and influence live ...more

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Jan 20, 2013 Barbara rated it really liked it

Shelves: community, civil-rights, teachers, friendship, biography, cultural-identity, social-justice, death, multiple-narrators, social-studies

Blending various elements of fact and fiction, this incredible book describes the life, times, and acquaintances of Lewis Michaux, whose efforts to bring books by black authors to Harlem for more than 40 years were Herculean. Michaux grew up during a time when segregation still existed in many places. His father, who ran a store and sold fish for a living, encouraged him to think for himself, and his mother favored his brother, Lightfoot, who would go on to found a Church of God. After spending Blending various elements of fact and fiction, this incredible book describes the life, times, and acquaintances of Lewis Michaux, whose efforts to bring books by black authors to Harlem for more than 40 years were Herculean. Michaux grew up during a time when segregation still existed in many places. His father, who ran a store and sold fish for a living, encouraged him to think for himself, and his mother favored his brother, Lightfoot, who would go on to found a Church of God. After spending time trying to make a living in various ways, Lewis started his own bookstore with five books, peddling his wares on the city streets. Eventually, his store became a rallying place for anyone wanting to learn about black heritage as well as a home for several writers, including Nikki Giovanni, and political figures, including Malcolm X. Amazingly, Michaux encouraged patrons to use his bookstore as a library. This story about the author's own great-uncle is inspiring, a fresh reminder that knowledge is power. Just as many documentary films move from one short scene to another, from one speaker to another, so does this book. The shift in time, place, and person is a bit jarring at first, but moving through it becomes smooth after a reader adjusts to this particular storytelling device. Reading between the lines, I could tell that this man was dedicated completely to bringing literature by African-American writers to African-Americans. Nothing else mattered to him. How many of us could have been that single-minded with so few monetary rewards? While I finished the book wanting to know more about Lewis, I also closed its pages filled with admiration for this man and for this talented storyteller. While some may argue that some of the facts are conjecture and some of the speakers are invented, I would argue that much of anyone's life is based on educated guesses as well. The back matter explains the author's research and writing processes enough to satisfy me. The inclusion of FBI notes on its observation of Lewis over the years is rather chilling, reminding readers that those who spoke out against the status quo were often suspect. What treasures this man and his bookstore must have been! ...more

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Nov 29, 2014 Terri rated it really liked it

I have been on an interesting journey, beginning with the reading of National Book Award finalist, "Revolution" by Deborah Wiles, which I thought was tremendous. I followed this with reading National Book Award winner "Brown Girl Dreaming" by Jacqueline Woodson. Both deal with the Civil Rights era - from differing perspectives. As I prepared my most recent student booktalks, I noted that with the 50th anniversary of Freedom Summer, many excellent books were being published on the subject. Combin ...more

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Jan 27, 2013 Courtney rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, 2013

I had never heard of Lewis Michaux before I started this book, and now I wish I knew more. This amazing "documentary novel" shares the history of Michaux, the Harlem bookseller who started the first black bookstore dedicated to selling literature for, by, and about African Americans. The book is not quite true but also not completely fiction as Michaux's actual FBI files are included in the novel. The story of his life is inspiring and this book will probably lead me to eventually go in search o ...more

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Sep 22, 2013 Christina Getrost rated it really liked it

Shelves: graphicnovels, biography

Fictionalized but with lots of images and FBI reports and posters, etc, and also heavily illustrated with drawings, almost a graphic novel--a "documentary novel" is a good description. It's close to a full biography of the marvelous Lewis Michaux, from his poor childhood to rough young adulthood to founding the National Memorial African Bookstore in Harlem, at a time when there were no bookstores focusing just on African and African-American books. His store became a gathering place and inspirat ...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Jennifer rated it it was amazing

Shelves: youngadult, corettascottkinghonor, kids, historicalfiction, hornbookwinner, 2012reads, 2012-pub, heavymedalshortlist2013, sljbob2013

I think this is a shoo-in for the Coretta Scott King award this year - at least for an honor, if not the winner. It was fascinating to read about Michaux and his bookstore - an institution I had never heard of, but that clearly was an important part of history. Since this is an unusual format, it's a challenge to evaluate, but Michaux's forceful personality comes through clearly. ...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Kris Springer rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2013-newbery-reads

Fascinating approach to historical fiction, with a great story about a pioneer in bookstores & African-American history & culture. Lewis Michaux owned and ran the National Memorial African Bookstore (I'm probably getting the order of the words in its name wrong) for almost 40 years in Harlem. He was friends with Malcolm X and helped lots of African-Americans learn about the history of the United States, as well as the history of the slave trade and different parts of Africa. Against all odds, Le ...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Renee rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya-historical, ya-nonfiction

Though it's not technically non-fiction (the author admits to speculating on some parts to fill in the gaps), it is very close. Includes black and white photographs, artifacts, documents and illustrations as well as a family tree, source notes, permissions and further reading. ...more

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