Skip to main content

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

By

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
by Phillip Hoose
New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2009. 144 pgs. Biography.


Phillip Hoose's award-winning biography acquaints readers young and old with a little-known heroine of the Civil Rights Movement. Claudette Colvin was fifteen years old when she had totally had it with the Montgomery, Alabama, bus system which required her to relinquish her seat to a white person when asked, even if there were other seats available in the bus. When she refused to move she was arrested by the transit police and did jail time. Although local civil rights' leaders commended her actions and arranged representation for her at her trial, she was deemed too young and too fractious to be the public face of what would become the Montgomery Bus Boycott. (That face would, sometime later, belong to Rosa Parks.) Later, as an unwed, pregnant teenager, Colvin's stock would sink even lower, but her courage in facing the initial arrest, and her willingness to testify against those who had wronged her--and all black citizens--in Federal Court are an exemplary if little-known part of the civil rights movement in America. Part exposition and part first-person narrative, Hoose's book is a masterful retelling of an important story. One violent and vulgar racial slur make this a book for older children or one that parents may want to read with their children. Recipient of a 2010 Newbery Honor award and a Sibert honor for children's informational book.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

If You Like...KPop Demon Hunters

By
KPop Demon Hunters has been one of the most talked-about movies of the summer. If you loved this movie as much as I did, you don't want the magic (or the music) to stop. Try reading these books that touch on some of the same topics and themes as the animated hit! Brick Dust and Bones By M. R. Fournet New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2023. Fiction. 247 pages. Orphaned Marius works in the family business--as their cemetery's ghost caretaker. However, Marius also moonlights as a monster hunter in order to earn the costly Mystic currency he needs to bring his mother back from the dead. As the window to bring his mother back begins to close, Marius's exploits get more and more dangerous, and he may have set his sights on a monster too big to handle on his own. Like Mira, Marius longs for familial connection, and his work as a monster hunter will satisfy the thrill of demon hunting for fans the movie. Where's Halmoni? By Julie J. Kim Seattle, WA: Little Bigfoot, 2017. Comics. W...
Post a Comment
Read more

Books That Take You There: Hawaii

By
As summer turns to fall, I always wish for more warm days before the cold comes. So if you, like me,  want to ship yourself to a tropical paradise, try out one of these books that will take you straight to Hawaii, even if it's only in your imagination. Aloha Everything Written by Kaylin Melia George Illustrated by Mae Waite Brooklyn, NY: Red Comet Press, 2024. Picture Book. This book, which won the 2025 APALA Award for Best Picture Book, tells the story of a Hawaiian girl who gains connection to her culture through hula. She learns about her ancestors, native folklore, and the true meaning of aloha. This book, which is written in verse, is lengthy and is probably better for elementary-aged kids rather than toddlers, but kids will be drawn in by the excellent story and the gorgeous, bright illustrations. Punky Aloha By Shar Tuiasoa New York: Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2022. Picture Book. Punky's grandmother needs butter to make her fresh, baked from scratch b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Dragon Run

By
Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...
1 comment
Read more