(Book Cover compliments of titlewave.com)
(Video from You Tube http://youtu.be/-ZOpqtdd8nw)
Bibliography
Hoose, Phillip. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice. New York: NY Melanie Kroupa Books. ISBN 0-312-66105-3
Plot summary
This story explores the details surrounding the little-known Alabama teen who added fuel to the growing Civil Rights movement by refusing to give up her bus seat and later serving as a plaintiff in the ground-breaking case that overturned the bus segregation law.
Critical Analysis
Set in Montgomery, Alabama, March 1955, this narrative sheds light on the story of 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, the first African American to refuse to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, nine months before Rosa Park’s similar act. The moving story parallels Claudette’s experience with the growing Civil Rights movement that ultimately led to the historic Montgomery bus boycotts. Delving deep into first hand accounts, Claudette’s own narrative voice, and dozens of actual newspaper clippings and photographs, Hoose relates the chronological sequence of events in Claudette’s life and the Civil rights movement culminating in the court case that overturned bus segregation.
The side bar historical notes and reprints from newspaper articles create a compelling design that draws the reader into Claudette’s experiences in the text. Photographs, an extensive index, annotated resource list, and author notes add authenticity and backbone to this highly personal story. Readers will be drawn into the joys and tragedies of Claudette’s private life and her courage in the face of rejection.
Reviews and Honors
“Hoose introduces readers to a resolute and courageous teenager.”—Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
“While virtually all students know Rosa Park’s story, this well-written and engaging book will introduce them to a teen who also fought for racial justice and give them a new perspective on the era...”- School Library Journal
“Hoose introduces readers to a resolute and courageous teenager.”—Starred Review, Publishers Weekly
“While virtually all students know Rosa Park’s story, this well-written and engaging book will introduce them to a teen who also fought for racial justice and give them a new perspective on the era...”- School Library Journal
National Book Award 2010
Winner Newbery Honor Book 2010
Robert F. Sibert Award Honor 2010
Carter G. Woodson Middle Level Award Winner 2010
YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction Finalist
Jane Addams Children's Book Award, Honor
ALA Best Book for Young Adults
ALSC Notable Children's Book
Starred reviews 2009 in School Library Journal, Booklinks, Book List, Horn Book, Publisher’s Weekly, Wilson’s
Connections
- Share other stories of young people making a difference in their world and have groups create an action project proposal based on a perceived social change need.
It's Our World, Too: Young People Who are Making a Difference: How They Do It--How YOU Can, Too! (Hoose) ISBN 9780374336226
We Were There, Too: Young People in US History (Hoose) ISBN 9780374336226
The Teen Guide to Global Action: How to Connect with Others (Near & Far) to Create Social Change (Lewis) ISBN 1-57542-266-2
- Read, pair, share some of the stories from Marching for Freedom: Walk Together, Children, and Don’t You Grow Weary (Partridge) ISBN 0-670-01189-4 written from the point of view of young people who participated in the 1965 Selma marches, and Freedom's Children: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories (Levine) ISBN 0-698-11870-7 about young activists experiences in the 1950s and 1960s Civil Rights movement. Extend the lesson by examining the literary power of voice and point of view.
- Have students locate and watch video clips on http://www.history.com of actual video footage from the bus boycotts, Selma to Montgomery march, and other historic Civil Rights movement events. Have students research further facts from the points of view of eyewitnesses in Voices of Freedom: An Oral History of the Civil Rights Movement ISBN 0-553-35232-6 and then creatively write about their feelings and experience from the point of view of a participant.
