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Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio

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Description

From Derf Backderf, the bestselling author of My Friend Dahmer, comes the Eisner and ALA/YALSA Alex Award-winning tragic and unforgettable story of the Kent State shootings, told in graphic novel form.Named a Best Book of the Year by New York Times, Forbes, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, and NPR, Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio is a moving and troubling story about the bitter price of dissent―as relevant today as it was in 1970.On May 4, 1970, the Ohio National Guard gunned down unarmed college students protesting the Vietnam War at Kent State University. In a deadly barrage of 67 shots, four students were killed and nine shot and wounded. It was the day America turned guns on its own children―a shocking event burned into our national memory.The fatal shootings triggered immediate and massive outrage on campuses around the country. More than four million students participated in organized walkouts at hundreds of universities, colleges, and high schools, the largest student strike in the history of the United States at that time. It was a day that shocked the nation and helped turn the tide of public opinion against America’s war in Vietnam.A few days prior, 10-year-old Derf Backderf saw those same guardsmen patrolling his nearby hometown, sent in by the governor to crush a trucker strike.Using the journalism skills he employed on My Friend Dahmer and Trashed, Backderf has conducted extensive interviews and research to explore the lives of these four young people and the events of those four days in May, when the country seemed on the brink of tearing apart.In this award-winning and powerful graphic novel, Derf Backderf takes us back to the age of the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon, Woodstock, and the Cold War and explores, in words and images, a scene of tragedy: the campus of Kent State University, where National Guard Troops attacked unarmed protestors and killed four students (Allison Beth Krause, age 19, Jeffrey Glenn Miller, age 20, Sandra Lee Scheuer, age 20, and William Knox Schroeder, age 19). Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Harry N. Abrams


Publication date ‏ : ‎ September 8, 2020


Edition ‏ : ‎ Illustrated


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 288 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1419734849


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 47


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 10.55 x 7.52 x 1.18 inches


Part of: Kent State ‏ ‎ Kent State


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Top Amazon Reviews


  • Great Book.
Format: Hardcover
Great Book.
Reviewed in the United States on August 25, 2026 by GIL KAUFMAN

  • Very engaging, well-researched
Format: Hardcover
I knew just a little bit about the whole Kent State events, and had no particular interest in them--I bought the book because I like the author. I was pleasantly surprised by how engaging the story was. The author brings the people involved to life, and provides back story and context for everything. Very well-researched, with citations for everything. It can be a difficult read to see how the Federal and State governments reacted to what were initially peaceful protests. The book itself is divided into days leading up to the event, and I found that after reading each day, I had to take a break. The book particularly resonates in our current period of protests and clashes between protesters and authorities. Let us hope that it never comes to that again. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2020 by Robert Gidley

  • Horrifying and Accurate and Relatable
Format: Hardcover
If you know someone who thinks graphic novels are the same thing as comic books, give them this book to read. Derf Backderf's recounting of the Kent State Shootings is meticulously researched, thoughtfully presented, and all the more relatable since it combines text and drawings. Throughout, Backderf succeeds in being objective and fair, presenting the viewpoints of the students, administrators, politicians, townspeople, and guardsmen. If you don't know much about the Kent State Shootings, this is an excellent place to start. If you do know quite a bit about the shootings, you will likely learn something here. Despite getting all three of my degrees at Kent State, I learned quite a bit about the shootings that I didn't know before. Be warned, however, this is a very disturbing read, as it should be. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on November 17, 2021 by Redtail

  • An Important Graphic Novel
Format: Hardcover
I remember liking Derf's work on a little comic strip called "The City," so when I ran across this humungous graphic novel at the library, I had to check it out. Having read it, I knew I wanted a copy of my own! This is more than a retelling of the tragic story of the four young people who died at a Kent State anti-war rally; Derf really did his homework, and he is as fair to both sides of the story as he can be. He exhaustively cites all his sources at (almost) the back of the book. If you have a kid who doesn't like to read history, get him this graphic novel. The material is more relevant now than it has been for decades. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on June 5, 2023 by L. M. Gulick

  • Memories
Format: Kindle
A good feel for what happened. It is hard to believe 50 years ago. I was a freshman in college in Ohio at the time.
Reviewed in the United States on October 22, 2020 by TOD

  • It’s been half a century, but it could still happen again today.
Format: Hardcover
The events that unfold in Derf Backderf’s Kent State happened just a few days after I was born. I can’t imagine what my parents were thinking about the world at the time, what with the Vietnam war raging, Nixon in office, and now troops firing on college students. I definitely knew about the massacre, but I didn’t know the full story that led up to it. Backderf does an amazing job on setting the stage for what happened that day. We meet the men and women who would eventually become unfortunate victims of government and military overreach. These young adults, much like the protesters out in force today, were energetic, passionate human beings who believed in justice and equality, and who were willing to fight for it through protest. Reading the events that led up to the massacre showed me that, while what happened at Kent State should never happen again, it very well could, especially when we have a President in office who will use concussion grenades to clear a path from the White House to a church for a ridiculous photo op. Even Nixon would look at what Trump’s doing and say, “Damn, that’s messed up.” But I digress; Kent State is another spectacular effort from Backderf. His drawings are iconic and convey the emotions that were running high at the time. Having read several of his previous releases, I have to say that Kent State is his best yet. Definitely recommend for fans of fact-based graphic novels, or for anyone who likes a good story told well. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on September 27, 2020 by wakamole

  • An excellent lesson, that sadly so few have learned from
Format: Hardcover
Excellent. Well researched and fascinating. I was 7 years old at the time and never really understood what happened. Horrible to realize how so little has changed.
Reviewed in the United States on May 22, 2025 by L. Tholl

  • I was there. Derf puts you there.
Format: Hardcover
I was a student at Kent State on May 4, 1970, and was on the Taylor Hall plaza when the shootings occurred. I have read everything I can find about the event, and Derf's account does the best overall job of conveying what it was like to be there. I especially appreciated the re-creation of the final days of Alison Krause, Sandy Scheuer, Bill Schroeder, and Jeff Miller, putting the absolute lie to their being outside agitators. The Guard was atrociously led, untrained for their mission, carried more than a bit of resentment, and was dog-tired when deployed to Kent. Kent and Portage County leadership wasn't up to it, either. It was a catastrophe waiting to happen. Thank you, Derf, for capturing this event that I can never forget. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on May 23, 2022 by FoCOGuy

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