Run: Book One (Run, 1)

Run, Eisner Award Winner for Best Graphic Memoir, is an essential graphic novel, whether for the home or the classroom. First you march, then you run. From the #1 bestselling, award-winning team behind March.

This follow-up to the #1 New York Times bestselling graphic novel series March is the continuation of the life story of John Lewis and the struggles seen across the United States after the Selma voting rights campaign.

To many, the civil rights movement was capped with the signing of the Voting Rights Act in 1965. All too often, the depiction of history ends with a great victory. But John Lewis knew that victories are just the beginning.

John Lewis was one of the preeminent figures of the movement, leading sit-in protests and fighting segregation on interstate busways as an original Freedom Rider. He became chairman of SNCC (the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) and was the youngest speaker at the March on Washington. He helped organize the Mississippi Freedom Summer and the ensuing delegate challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention. And he co-led the march from Selma to Montgomery on what became known as "Bloody Sunday."

In Run, John Lewis and longtime collaborator Andrew Aydin reteam with Nate Powell--the award-winning illustrator of the March trilogy--and are joined by L. Fury, making an astonishing graphic novel debut, to tell this often-overlooked chapter of civil rights history.

"In sharing my story, it is my hope that a new generation will be inspired by Run to actively participate in the democratic process and help build a more perfect Union here in America."--Congressman John Lewis

"Run recounts the lost history of what too often follows dramatic change--the pushback of those who refuse it and the resistance of those who believe change has not gone far enough. John Lewis's story has always been a complicated narrative of bravery, loss, and redemption, and Run gives vivid, energetic voice to a chapter of transformation in his young, already extraordinary life." --Stacey Abrams

New York Times Top 5 YA Books of the Year - Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens (Young Adult Library Services Association) - Washington Post Best Books of the Year - Variety Best Books of the Year - School Library Journal Best Books of the Year

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Published Aug 3, 2021

160 pages

Average rating: 8.67

6 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

BrandeeD
Dec 10, 2025
6/10 stars
Run is the sequel to the phenomenal March series. However, I felt as though it was missing much of what I loved from the March series. This book shows the tumultuous months after the signing of the Voting Rights Act. Many people may believe that after the signing of this act that everyone just started following the rules and oppression stopped. But as we all know this is far from the truth. Police brutality, bombings, killings, riots, political turmoil, and overall extreme violence is what followed instead. This book does a great job of illustrating many of these events and showing just how much anger was behind all of this. However, I felt as though there were pieces missing. Maybe there wasn't based on the notes at the end which detailed all of the extensive research that John Lewis and his team did before finalizing this book, but it just felt like there was something missing. This book just went too fast for me and I didn't feel the pull to jump in and fight along with them as I did during the March series. This book does tell the story of Lewis' ouster from the SNCC and how this just went alongside the rest of the political turmoil of the time. But with the introduction of the Black Power slogan and how this was so empowering but also so polarizing, I felt as though certain events and descriptions could have been described more. But with the book ending with such a vague theme of the need to run, there might be more books to come.

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