The story is not autobiographical , but Cruse draws from his experiences growing up in Birmingham , Alabama . He also includes such historical events as the 1955 murder of Emmett Till in Mississippi and the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham in 1963 . In an interview with Comic Book Resources , Cruse said that he based the novel on his own experiences in the 1960s and his " anger at the degree to which the ideals of the Civil Rights Era were being abandoned . " In another interview , Cruse stated , " My goal was to create the kind of novel that is too full of incident for someone to simply summarize in their mind in one sentence . I wanted it to be like life , where you spend a year of your life and you ca n’t just remember everything that happened , but it 's all part of a process . " < ! -- '' Stuck Rubber Baby '' was published with high expectations , given the success of Art Spiegelman 's graphic novel '' Maus '' ( 1991 ) . '' Stuck Rubber Baby '' won a favorable critical reception , but its sales were modest . The book won the award for Best Graphic Novel at the Eisners , Harveys , and UK Comic Art Awards . It was nominated for the American Library Association 's Lesbian and Gay Book Award and the Lambda Literary Award . It won the 2002 French '' Prix de la critique '' and the '' Luche '' award in Germany
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
16th Street Baptist Church bombing
Stuck Rubber Baby