A history of America that acknowledges both the ideal and the imperfections of our nation starts in the voice of a Lakota Indian speaking of the span of time Native peoples have occupied this land, and ends with expressions of the meaning of America for all people and generations. Walter Dean Myers’s narrative can be read as a single poem or multiple offerings, each one exploring a different facet of America from past to present. Myers moves chronologically forward in time as he reveals defining events in the history of a nation still emerging. Christopher Myers’s illustrations appear like murals on each page spread, offering a stunning panorama of the nation’s history juxtaposed with images of who we are today. “And from the tensions, / From the struggle between conscience / And human frailty / Between the great hope of tomorrow / And the forever hunger of today / We have found our nation.” The opening author’s and illustrator’s notes are as insightful and inspired as the words and images that follow them in a book that offers riches from cover to cover. (Age 12 and older)