Fault Lines in the Constitution

Starred review from September 4, 2017
Cynthia Levinson (The Youngest Marcher) and her constitutional law professor husband hone in on select aspects of the United States Constitution; after scrutiny of the Preamble’s intentions and some of the document’s problematic provisions, they call urgently for reform, giving it an overall C+ grade. (Sanford Levinson’s 2006 book, Our Undemocratic Constitution, navigated similar terrain for an adult readership.) The authors focus on how bills become law, who can vote or be elected to office, succession provisions, and amending the Constitution; the conundrum of the Electoral College merits its own section. Interest-piquing anecdotes open each chapter, the effects of the Constitution’s provisions are dramatically summarized in poster-like illustrations, and the ensuing discussions—a review of the Framers’ concerns in 1787, analyses of various “Big Problems,” and possible solutions found in other operating constitutions—are both cogent and highly readable (“We continue to operate under the terms of their last-minute flip-flop”). This thought-provoking and exceptionally topical work concludes with a debate between the Levinsons over the best way to accomplish much-needed changes to America’s most basic governing document. Ages 10–14. Agent: Erin Murphy, Erin Murphy Literary.

August 3, 2020
This jaunty graphic adaptation of the Levinsons’ 2017 youth guide to “the framers, their fights, and the flaws that affect us today” highlights the enduring problem points in the foundational document of the United States. Each chapter opens with real-life dilemmas that, according to the authors, stemmed from “crises we’ve faced since 1787 the limitations, ambiguities, and flatly bad ideas in the Constitution.” The work is at its strongest in these personalized anecdotes, such as an elderly woman disenfranchised by voter ID laws and an undocumented immigrant’s fight for legal status, but focus gets lost as 21 chapters race to cram in examples of how the Constitution impacts contemporary America in matter ranging from gerrymandering to farm subsidies. Shwed’s crisp layouts and cute character design manage to make the information overload more digestible, while Gerardo Alba’s red-white-and-blue color palette provides even the driest topics some pop. The Levinsons can be credited with a mountain of research and noble aims. But while it may appeal to students eager to avoid a standard textbook slog, the combination of dense text and rambling focus proves less accessible than the comics treatment promises. All the elements for a timely resource are here, but the result feels a touch underbaked.