Darkroom: A Memoir in Black and White

I saw this book last month while visiting the Levine Museum of the New South in Charlotte, NC. If I hadn't been there with a group, I'd have stood there the whole day, reading the entire thing. It was that intriguing. I ordered a copy from Amazon through my phone before I left the museum. Interesting memoir. Unique perspective. Brilliant illustrations Should be required reading in the U.S. Maybe everywhere.

This is an excellent book written and illustrated in the style of the graphic novel. The drawings are beautifully rendered charcoals drawn from 1st-hand experiences. Lila's spellbinding story and masterful drawings of her childhood in the Jim Crow south make the book difficult to put down. While the reading level would be appropriate for children in 4th-8th grade, it is also a great read for any adult or young adult. I highly recommend this book. As an educator, I feel books like Darkroom should be required reading during the middle grades.

This was a purchase for school. It was the best price I could find.

Darkroom is not your usual female graphic memoir. Quintero's Memoir deals with immigration, race, social upheaval and identity. Not white, neither black, the Quinteros arrived from Argentina in 1961 and settle in the Alabama Black Belt area, in a time when segregation and Civil Rights libertarians were going to change the course of History in America. Lila and her family view and dealt with Segregation in a way that was not what was expected from them, but they could not but be appalled by the reality of Segregation and life conditions of Afro-Americans but also were supportive of the Civil Rights movement. Dark Room is both a personal and family memoir. It is also a memoir about the troubles of immigration, of being always The Other. The book it is perfect to illustrate Alterity processes. In a way, it is just normal that the Quinteros would see "the others" in American society, the Afro-Americans, with empathy and humanness. They themselves were "the others" to both white and black people. This gave them an unique vantage point, and also created troubled for them in their personal relationships. I also like the fact that we witness the different fortunes of the Quintero's siblings, as immigration affects differently to the members of the same family because people are, after all, individuals. Dark Memoir is a lovely Memoir that goes from the personal to the familiar, stopping at the historical. Quintero herself reveals at the that memory is not the only source of her Memoir, as an historical approach is given to the narration of some of the horrific events happened in Alabama during the 1960s. Moreover, she was academically advised and supervised to produce a Memoir that is clear about the value of our personal memory in a Memoir, especially when dealing with historical events. I think that shows. There is some sort of detachment in the narration at times, that comes from there. Despite being barely present, Argentina is never forgotten, especially because Lila's mother would recall her beloved Buenos Aires and infuse their American children with a taste for their country of origin. Argentina or Argentinean culture were not imposed on the children, and Lila has ended being very much in touch with her Argentinean family and keeping Argentina culture close to her heart even though she progressively assimilated into America. . Beyond the narrative, the book is wonderfully drawn, with a precise use of ink pen drawing, a great use of chiaroscuro and portrait, and an elegant use of white space. The number of vignettes per page is small, favouring big sized detailed ones, sometimes with barely any text; other times the narration and text is the focus and just a few elements of drawing are present in the page. Generally speaking, the book is visually interesting and varied. This being the case, the book reads quickly, and feels shorter than the 200+ pages that the book has. In fact, was about 60 of the book inn my Kindle and the book was already finished, just the long heart-felt acknowledgements at the end of the book occupying the rest of the book. What the heck?!

Every event in history has thousands of points of view. Yet from the observer there is only one view point-their own. Lila Quintero Weaver shows the challenges of growing up in the South from an immigrant perspective. She struggles with integration of her heritage and the new culture she lives in. Lila Quintero Weaver give us a unique perspective of the beginning of the civil rights movement. Each image is as carefully drawn as the text that accompanies the images. Darkroom reminds us of our cultural past and encourages us to look to our future.

Weaver's memoir combines powerful memories with stunning artwork. Weaver was the child of Argentinian immigrants who grew up during the 1960's in a small Alabama town. She witnessed the injustice of segregation as an outsider herself. Weaver captures the perspective of a young person struggling to find her own way in a world she knows should change. Her story should be shared in school libraries everywhere. No one will put down this book unmoved.

This graphic novel should be in every school and city library! It is so beautifully illustrated and her personal account is so relevant to our times. The current issue of immigration has deep roots and Ms. Weaver explains them so well as she takes us back in time to the civil rights movement through the eyes of a young Hispanic woman growing up in the Black Belt. Her illustrative talent is marvelous and I look forward to her next venture.

I grew up in the Sixties and spent time in the small Alabama town where the author lived. It was a time and place where teenage white boys addressed middle-aged black men by their first names and middle-aged black men addressed teenaged white boys as "siree." The author draws readers in with stark details. She pulls no punches while avoiding a temptation to throw stones. I've known all the types of people she described, in Marion and throughout the world. I've often reflected on those times, that little town, in my formative years thinking I should write a book to try and explain it as much to myself perhaps as to my grandchildren. Reading Darkroom has helped me process my experiences from a unique perspective, neither that of a white person entrenched in the status quo, nor a black person struggling with American apartheid, but an embedded immigrant observer bearing witness to the darker side of our human condition.

From the eye of a child, dramatic events that shaped Southern US in the 60's. Simple and emotionally filled graphics makes it a read you can't put down.

Good artwork and narrative. Bought for my daughter as part of her GCSE studies on the civil rights movement, but ended up reading it for myself and found it very good to read.