Make Your Mark

October 15, 2024
A tattoo artist reflects on her personal journey and her adopted community. Staking out a claim to be "America's very first female African American tattoo artist," Gresham starts off her tale by spotlighting the peace symbol she drew on her arm in black marker as a child inspired by watching Civil Rights protests on TV. She covers her later move to New Orleans, where she opened a tattoo studio and became a welcoming neighborhood presence both before and after Hurricane Katrina. Retracing her artistic development, from her rejection of an elementary school art teacher's instruction to "stay in the lines" to her determined quests for just the right inks, colors, and designs for dark skin, she provides plenty of generally applicable advice: "Stray outside the lines." "Follow your heart." "Do what scares you." "There will be storms, but never give up!" Wilkerson goes more for evocative glimpses than exact reproductions of Gresham's work (the backmatter includes one close-up photo), offering instead views of her hunched over drawings and drawing boards, at work in her shop, arguing with an early business partner when he announces that tattooing women is "distasteful," and, after remarking on the "vibrancy, rhythm, and style" of her community, waving from her door to customers and passersby broadly diverse of age, skin color, and body type. "This is how I make my mark," she concludes. "How will you make yours?" Informative and inspirational.(Picture-book memoir. 6-9)

COPYRIGHT(2024) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

December 1, 2024
Grades K-3 Opening with the heading "First, stray outside the lines," Jacci Gresham, the avowed first Black woman tattoo artist, offers readers insight into how to reach their goals and cultivate their passions. Part autobiography, part advice book, this picture book takes readers through Gresham's childhood and adult life, where she found success as a tattoo artist who specialized in creating body art for women and people of color. Different words of advice (e.g., "Express yourself," "Follow your heart," "Practice every day," "Stand up for what you believe") headline the various chapters of Gresham's life, effectively showing how she lived by these ideals and encouraging readers to apply them to their own lives. From her New Orleans tattoo parlor, Gresham challenged and changed the perceptions regarding women and tattoos, stating, "Women deserve the right to tattoo art on their bodies just like men." The vibrant and colorful digital illustrations fittingly showcase tattoo art, and an author's note features photos of Gresham at work. An inspiring story of a formidable woman changing the world through her art.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.