On June 17, 2015 a man walked into the historically black church, Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, and shot dead nine people. At the funeral honoring the ones lost, President Barack Obama gave a eulogy and sang Amazing Grace. The setting of the story is at the funeral, which has an immense impact on the reader. As I was reading, I felt like I was there, feeling what the people in attendance must have been feeling and feeling the power Obama’s words had. A song we had all known before, held a very different meaning in that place, on that day. Throughout the book there are images that represent the setting, that also have the effect of making the words more meaningful. I think had the story been written with a different setting or been told in just a factual matter the emotion and purpose would have been very different. I absolutely loved this book. It’s a very short and simple book but made me feel so many feelings. I have never had a picture book make me cry, but this one did. It is that powerful. ( )

This is a picture book edition of the animated music video, sung by Joan Baez. Includes the score on the endsheets. Backmatter includes creator notes, brief bios of those who died and a QR code to access the video. ( )