Revolutions Are Made of Love: An Interview with Authors Mélina Mangal and Sun Yung Shin

Revolutions are made out of love for people and for place. This was a core belief of activists and married couple James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs. In the new picture book biography, Revolutions Are Made of Love: The Story of James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs, inspiring poems and bold art introduce young readers to the lives and ideas of these incredible individuals who worked together to build a better future for all.

Today authors Mélina Mangal and Sun Yung Shin join us to share their experiences writing and collaborating on this picture book. Read on to see bold mixed-media artwork by debut picture book illustrator Leslie Barlow.

Mélina Mangal

What was your research process like for this book?

I first met with Sun Yung to hear about her research and her visit with Grace Lee Boggs. She shared valuable information about that inspiring meeting and the details she’d learned about Grace and James’ life. We’d agreed that she would primarily write about Grace, and I would write primarily about James. I then began my own research, focusing on James Boggs.

Because James was a prolific writer, there was a lot to read: books, pamphlets, letters, newspaper columns, and commentaries and more. There were also a number of recordings of speeches, classes, and interviews that allowed me to hear James speaking directly. Grace Lee Boggs wrote extensively as well, and her books provided lots of details, especially about James’ childhood.

I found Grace’s autobiography Living for Change to be extremely helpful in understanding both James and Grace’s lives individually and together. Visiting the Special Collections at Wayne State University’s Reuther Library in Detroit, as well as the interviews I was able to conduct in Detroit were invaluable.

In addition, I consulted maps, visited online historical archives and historical societies, and read accounts of life in rural Alabama near Marion Junction, where James grew up. I was surprised to see how close it was to where my father’s family is from!

What was the most challenging part of the writing process?

The most challenging part of the writing process was finding an approach to present two voices.

Though Grace continued the work they’d both initiated, she went on to do  more because she lived to be 100! Deciding how to start, and what to highlight was a real challenge.

At first we wrote in a narrative voice, with alternating sections, but we felt it lacked the emotional resonance to make their stories engaging. Because Sun Yung is a poet, and my first love has always been poetry, we thought, why not try writing in verse? 

We found this to be the perfect fit. Writing in verse allowed us to highlight significant events in a more impactful way, bringing Grace and James to life. We hope our readers agree!

Was there anything you learned through your research that you didn’t have room to include in the book?

There are so many things!  James and Grace led such rich, full lives and touched people in so many ways. One thing that sticks with me is how very caring and inclusive      James was. In addition to helping neighbors and community members with all sorts of manual and clerical requests, he helped care for Grace’s father, when he moved in with them for the last couple of years of his life. James also visited his own mother in the nursing home across town every evening at dinner time, faithfully checking in on her. His job, and his organizing and writing work, never stopped him from showing kindness to help others.

How did you feel when you went to Detroit, MI to research where Grace and James lived and worked?

It had been years since I had visited Detroit. I’d gone there to visit my Aunt and Uncle when I was a child. It was amazing to go      back and see where James and Grace lived and worked. Their home has become the James and Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership. I got to see their library, the many books they read and pondered and discussed, as well as the spaces where they welcomed community and movement members into their home for meetings. I could envision how open and welcoming they were to people who also wanted to work to better humanity.

Traveling around James and Grace Lee’s neighborhood and other parts of Detroit, I saw the shuttered plants and buildings around the city that used to be thriving centers of activity. Seeing historic photos of the way Detroit used to be and how it changed brought to life James’ words about work and society.

But also seeing the growth and expansion of community gardens and orchards, neighborhood organizations, small businesses, and beautiful murals also highlighted the legacy of the Boggs—people coming together to create new and uplifting ways of being.

What was your favorite part of the process of writing this book?

Collaborating with Sun Yung!  I so enjoyed writing in verse, then meeting with Sun Yung to share our poems. It was such a thrill each time to see what Sun Yung had written. With Sun Yung’s help, I’ve learned so much through this project, not only about James and Grace Lee Boggs, but also about philosophy, activism, labor history, and poetry!

Sun Yung Shin

Can you describe what first inspired the idea for this book?

Meeting Grace Lee Boggs in 2004 inspired this book; I was surprised that there wasn’t already a children’s book about her and James Boggs. After my two children were born, I had discovered that there were very few children’s book about Asian Americans aside from those about folktales, food, and festivals. We need those books, of course, but I also wanted books that explored other aspects of Asian American life. I loved picture books as a child and I continue to love them as an adult, so I was drawn to that format. 

James Boggs and Grace Lee Boggs were activists for decades and did far more than would fit into even a longer-than-usual picture book! How did you decide which elements of their lives to include?

We learned about turning points in their lives, which were so fascinating. With every picture book project, I think about what kind of scenes and elements would make vivid and historically revealing images. We also thought a lot about what would highlight aspects of Detroit’s history as an important American city.  

A couple of other children’s books about Grace Lee Boggs have been published in the last few years. What made you decide to include both Grace and her husband, James Boggs, in this book?

I made the decision to include James Boggs before those other books came out, and I am thrilled there are more books about Grace Lee Boggs! Once I started drafting, I realized that I couldn’t tell aspects of her story without also including James Boggs. They were such an incredible team, and their story is unique. 

How did the two of you come to work together on this book? Did James and Grace’s partnership as activists shape your approach to your collaboration as authors?

As I started thinking about shifting the project to include James Boggs, I realized I wanted to work with a co-author who shared important aspects of James Boggs’ family’s history. I’m an immigrant, so my direct ancestors have no history here on this land. I wanted to be as respectful as possible to both Grace and James. I was an enthusiastic admirer of Mélina Mangal’s work, including her beautiful and inspirational picture book biography of Ernest Everett Just, The Vast Wonder of the World. I knew she would bring both personal and professional wisdom and expertise to this book.

What makes the activism of James and Grace relevant for young readers in 2025?

Their activism is relevant because they’re incredible examples of how people with very different family and cultural histories in a highly racialized country can work together and bring their own strengths to {r}evolution locally and globally. Their focus on working intergenerationally is also important to healing how we relate together.

Praise for Revolutions Are Made of Love

★ “The poetry is able to convey succinctly the extensive accomplishments of both subjects and the hurdles they faced together and individually, imbuing it with a tone of hope throughout. The illustrations are based on images and stories of the couple, portrayed thoughtfully in each time period of their lives with vivid imagery and color. An exceptional choice for libraries that cherish the stories of unsung, exceptional American people.”—starred, School Library Journal

“Readers will learn about the injustices and influences that shaped Grace and Jim when they were very young and how they responded to those forces, overcoming obstacles in their own paths and then working for the betterment of other people.”—Booklist

“The prose poems are accessible and clear, with a pleasant cadence and beauty. . .The illustrations are also outstanding throughout, with bright colors and rich details. . . Revolutions Are Made of Love is a creative dual biography in poems—a meaningful story about love and partnership.”—Foreword Reviews

“A painterly approach distinguishes exemplary portraiture from multimedia artist Barlow, making a picture book debut; the characters’ expressions convey both their connection and their fervent passion for fighting for equity across a work about ‘a true/ collaboration,/ a union/ of love/ and struggle.'”—Publishers Weekly

“In this innovative picture book biography, poetry and lush illustrations tell the story of James and Grace Lee Boggs. . . The art is rich and profound, with intense colors paired with expressive, detailed portraits and scenes that reflect the text.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Connect with the Authors and Illustrator