Aberg-Riger, Ariel. America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History. Balzer + Bray, 2023. 978-0-063-05753-1. 392 p. $24.99. Grades 9-12.

In her Preface, author Ariel Aberg-Riger notes that her relationship with history developed not through memorizing dates, but through images, and specifically the stories behind the people in pictures. America Redux reflects this sensibility, and the subtitle really says it all: visual stories from our dynamic history. The author and illustrator places “movements and events and people from across time in conversation with one another in a way that […] offers some insight into who we are as a country.” Chapters titles are phrases that might be used in a traditional history textbook, e.g. The Good Old Days, Home of the Brave, and Down on the Farm. Brief and highly visual chapters then subvert expectations by connecting these phrases to the experiences of folks who have too often been marginalized, silenced, or even erased from American history. For example, Spreading Democracy focuses on the efforts of Native American, Black, immigrant, and disabled women (not only the “traditional” suffragists) to secure the right to vote. The Home of the Brave centers people living with AIDS who joined forces to fight for more equitable drug trials and expanded access to treatments. The Old Ballgame explores forced segregation in America’s national pastime. Every page includes handwritten text and collage art (created with public domain images using Photoshop and Procreate); striking images complement and expand upon the text. 

THOUGHTS: Like Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi, America Redux is not unbiased and may be considered controversial. However, Aberg-Riger fully succeeds in creating a stunning visual depiction of American history and inviting the reader to engage with a potentially new perspective. 

Graphic Novel
973 American History