Ariel Aberg-Riger

“Aberg-Riger examines how each individual story tackles issues surrounding identity in politics, allowing readers to make connections and interrogate how seemingly isolated societal struggles intersect with one another. This work enthralls from start to finish, culminating in a triumphant victory that tackles censorship and revisionist history.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Aberg-Riger has provided a necessary and insightful conversation about history that highlights the history makers we know so little about. America can’t know where it’s going unless it knows where it’s been, and America Redux is the ultimate guide for that.” —Angie Thomas

Ariel Aberg-Riger is a visual storyteller who creates engaging, accessible stories about history, science, policy, and other forces that shape our lives. Her work explores issues of equity and social justice, on topics that range from environmental racism to the public library, and has appeared everywhere from the pages of the MIT Technology Review and Teen Vogue, to the stage at Carnegie Hall. She is a big believer in the power of melding forms and morphing mediums to tell expansive stories.

Aberg-Riger’s debut book America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History (Harper Collins, 2023) – described as “an illustrated journey through lesser-known and frequently erased parts of United States history” – won the Kirkus Prize for Young Reader’s Literature and was a 2024 finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction award, in addition to being named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Public Library, Publisher’s Weekly, and School Library Journal.

Using photographs, maps, and handwritten text, America Redux demonstrates, in the words of the Kirkus Prize judges, “that history, far from being dusty and irrelevant, is a subject that teens will eagerly engage with — if we give them what they deserve: provocative, courageous, and inclusive books that respect their passion and intellect. Balancing vibrant collage art with captivating text, Aberg-Riger inspires readers to think critically and ask probing questions. At a time when books that challenge whitewashed history are coming under fire from censors, this is a vitally important work that dares to tell the truth.”

Aberg-Riger lives with her wife and kids in Buffalo, NY.

Short Bio

Aberg-Riger’s debut book America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History (Harper Collins, 2023) – described as “an illustrated journey through lesser-known and frequently erased parts of United States history” – won the Kirkus Prize for Young Reader’s Literature and was a 2024 finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction award, in addition to being named a Best Book of the Year by the New York Public Library, Publisher’s Weekly, and School Library Journal. Aberg-Riger lives with her wife and kids in Buffalo, NY.

Visit Author Website

Download Now

America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History

(Nonfiction,Mixed 2023)

Every once in a while, a book comes along that completely changes how you look at a genre. That’s what America Redux has done with history books. Author and artist Ariel Aberg-Riger upends the way history is often seen. Chronology is thrown out the window and stunning visuals are used to show readers how our past is our present is our future. This is a book that will enthrall and inspire avid history buffs and reluctant readers alike and deserves a spot on every classroom and library shelf. A critical, unflinching cultural history and fierce beacon of hope for a better future, America Redux is a necessary and galvanizing read.

What are the stories we tell ourselves about America? How do they shape our sense of history, cloud our perceptions, inspire us?

America Redux explores the themes that create our shared sense of American identity and interrogates the myths we’ve been telling ourselves for centuries. With iconic American catchphrases as chapter titles, these twenty-one visual stories illuminate the astonishing, unexpected, sometimes darker sides of history that reverberate in our society to this very day—from the role of celebrity in immigration policy to the influence of one small group of white women on education to the effects of “progress” on housing and the environment to the inspiring force of collective action and mutual aid across decades and among diverse groups.

Fully illustrated with collaged archival photographs, maps, documents, graphic elements, and handwritten text, this book is a dazzling, immersive experience that jumps around in time and will make you view history in a whole different light.

Visit the book’s website.

Read What’s In Print

• Four Questions for Ariel Aberg-Riger – Publishers Weekly, starred review

• Behind the Book: America Redux by Ariel Aberg-Riger – Harper Stack

• An Interview: Picturing History in a Whole New Light – Kirkus Reviews, starred review

• Review of America Redux by Ariel Aberg Riger – Kirkus Review

• America Redux: Visual Stories from Our Dynamic History – Publishers Weekly

• Interview with Ariel Aberg-Riger: “Your time is more condensed when you’re a parent.” – Famous Writing Routines

Listen to Audio

• It’s the 10th year of the Kirkus Prize. Meet the winners of a top literary award – NPR

• “Crying in the morning headaches in the afternoon” by Ariel Aberg-Riger

• “A Trip to Buffalo’s Flea Markets” by Ariel Aberg Riger – The Guardian