One of my most anticipated graphic novels of this year is Top Shelf‘s March created by Congressman John Lewis, the legendary civil rights icon. The graphic novel is co-written by Andrew Aydin with art by Nate Powell.

Along with the fact the graphic novel can now be pre-ordered, it has also been announced that March: Book One will feature a back cover blurb from none other than the 42nd President of the United States President Bill Clinton! To the best of our knowledge, this is the first graphic novel ever endorsed by an American president:

President Clinton has said:

Congressman John Lewis has been a resounding moral voice in the quest for equality for more than 50 years, and I’m so pleased that he is sharing his memories of the Civil Rights Movement with America’s young leaders. In March, he brings a whole new generation with him across the Edmund Pettus Bridge, from a past of clenched fists into a future of outstretched hands.

This graphic novel is also getting lots of coverage. Congressman Lewis will appear on The Colbert Report on its release day, August 13th. He’ll then head over to CNN to promote it as well. This is a first time guest will be on Colbert to specifically promote a graphic novel. Something we’ve been pushing for a while now.

The Congressman will also be touring to promote the graphic novel, starting before its even out.

• BookExpo America in New York (speaker at VIP author breakfast with Chris Matthews, Diana Gabaldon, and Helen Fielding, Saturday June 1)
• American Library Association Annual Conference in Chicago (featured auditorium speaker, Saturday June 29)
• Comic-Con International in San Diego (special guest, July 20-21)
• National Conference of African American Librarians near Cincinnati (closing keynote speaker, August 11)

And that’s just the start.

One of Congressman Lewis’ chief goals for the March trilogy is to engage the next generation of readers, in order to keep the lessons of the civil rights movement alive. So Top Shelf is proud to present an 11-page Teacher’s Guide to March: Book One, developed by comics/education expert Peter Gutierrez, packed full of resources for using this graphic novel in the grade 6-12 classroom and beyond. It even includes correlations to national & state standards for English and Social Studies! Teachers and librarians can download this guide today, absolutely free, and get ready to teach March: Book One in the fall.

That’s a hell of a promotion for a graphic novel, sounds pretty close to what we’ve been calling for, for a long time. Hats off to Top Shelf and can’t wait to read this.