Nina: Jazz Legend and Civil-Rights Activist Nina Simone by Alice Brière-Haquet (review)

With a framing story that has Nina Simone telling her life as a bedtime story to her daughter, this imported French picture book chronicles the experiences that led her to become a classically trained jazz legend and civil rights activist. An early brush with racism occurred at her church, when Nina's mother sat proudly in the front row awaiting her young daughter's piano debut performance, until the arrival of white parishioners meant she had to move. Even piano lessons reminded her of racial inequalities because, as her teacher explained, the "white keys are whole notes and the black keys are flats, or half notes … that's just the way it is." Eventually, the young lyricist was moved to voice her resistance to social inequalities, and her musical gifts would score her journey to impact society. The story moves in quick, impressionistic beats that focus on feelings rather than biographical detail, but it's fluidly told, and it may whet listeners' appetites for more. Liance evokes a dreamlike state in the appropriately monochromatic illustrations as soft grainy charcoal allows black and white to merge in shades from dark to pale; creative, symbolic interpretations are dramatic, as in the minimalist image of white people seated as on a bus while black people stand behind them with fists upraised in what could be a grab onto the unseen strap—or a black power salute. Librarians in search of a way to inspire today's youth with exceptional children of generations past will want to make room in their collections for Nina. QB