Martin Luther King Jr.

10 Days

by David Colbert

Discover ten crucial days in the life of activist and civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., in this installment of the 10 Days series.

Martin Luther King, Jr., lived 14,325 days, but then of them changed his world—and ours. Follow Dr. King’s journey from his teenage refusal to give up his bus seat to his famous “I Have a Dream” speech that inspired the world. This essential book includes historical black-and-white photographs, a selected bibliography, and an important introduction to the Civil Rights Movement—including the Montgomery bus boycott, the Freedom Rides, and Dr. King’s time in a Birmingham jail cell.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Middle Grade

160 pages, Paperback

First published November 25, 2008

Reviews

[Kimberli · Rating 3 out of 5]

this book was about how marti luther king wanted rights for the african american race.

[Juliana Millan]

The book Martin Luther King Jr. by David Colbert was a very interesting but then again very depressing book to read. I like the way Colbert wrote this book in the ten days Martin Luther King jr. changed our old world of racism. Reading this book really made me grateful that he changed our world and is a big part of the reason to why everyone is free. This book had major description on how things were back then and how King changed that all. I got to read the speeches King gave which did make me emotional because he did everything for his people and didn't care of what would happen to him as long as his people and family got to be free. This book really does make you open you eyes and you understand that everyone should be more grateful and realize everyone is equal. i would recommend this book to anyyone who likes historical books.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Martin Luther King Jr. (10 Days) is a very important book and I think everyone should read it to learn more on Martin Luther King. This book has so many powerful parts of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life. Like when Martin Luther King Jr. is giving his speech at prize ceremony, and when it talks about all of the marches that Martin Luther King Jr. went to, which are the books strengths. My personal favorite part is when Martin Luther King Jr. is in jail talking about what has happened. This is my favorite part because I like how they are just going over stuff even if Martin Luther King Jr. is not there. Some book-to-book connections I have with this book are that in this this book, Martin Luther King Jr. goes and speaks at a very important prize ceremony and in the book, I am Malala, Malala goes to a lot of very important speeches too. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend if they were wanted to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. because it talks a lot about him. In conclusion, Martin Luther King Jr. (10 Days) is a great book if you are wanting to learn more about Martin Luther King Jr. and I would defiantly recommend to a friend for the same reason.

[Gabrielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book share 10 very important days for Martin Luther King Jr., and the people in the United States. The they are all broken up into chapters throughout the book. I really liked how this book had and Afterword at the end. It explained what happened with Civil Rights after Martin Luther King Jr. passed. This would be a great book to have upper elementary or middle school students read when they start learning about the Civil Rights Movement.

[Scott Whitney · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was nice to find this book at our library's used book sale. I then read it on the day before Martin Luther King day. Now it will be going into my classroom library for my students who are interested in the life of Martin Luther King Jr.

[Allison Ster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows Martin Luther King JR.'s top ten days of his life starting from him growing up in the south facing segregation. To an important time in Memphis, Tennessee when he had to push through inner battles to keep fighting for what he believed in

[April Suter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A great read for jr. high or high school student to learn of Dr. King's life. I marked it lower because in the Afterword the author is very anti-President Reagan. The author does not address that it was his administration that made pay at the White House equal for all.

[Brandon Mullan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cool structure!

[Grant Thomas]

A book that gives information about Martin Luther King Jr. and the ten days in his life that will go down as some of the most important days in the battle for civil rights.

[Tara Dryml]

This book is about the 10 most important days of Martin Luther King Jr. They included the days such as Freedom Riders and the Rosa Parks Bus Boycott

[Doris Raines · Rating 5 out of 5]

This Is A Man With MAny Golden Goals And Dreams. Thanks DR. Martin Luther King👏🏾

[Vincent]

Good

[Alex Monseth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick, easy read. Learned a lot about MLKJ and the battles he faced!

[Vanessa Becerra]

This book is about MLKJ and his life in 10 days. This is about his days leading up till his death. I would use this as a how well do you know Martin Luther King Jr worksheet.

[Nathaniel Buffington]

An important look into the life and impact of Martin Luther King Jr., would be perfect in any classroom going over the Civil Rights Era and wanting to do right by his name.

[Caydon Dial · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was incredibly short and missed some things. Other than that it was an alright depiction of Martin Luther King Jr’s journey as a philanthropist.

[Andrew · Rating 2 out of 5]

10 Days: Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of seven books in the the 10 Days series by author David Colbert. I like the concept of these books. Colbert takes the ten most important days of a famous person's life, and tells their story through the lens of those days. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in this book.

I do like how this book is structured. There are ten chapters sandwiched between an introduction and an afterword. Colbert has determined ten days that he thinks are the most important in King's life. Each chapter is one of those days. The format is a great idea for a biography. The body of the book is only 146 pages, so it makes for a quick read. Young adults tend to need quicker reads when it comes to informational text, especially more reluctant readers.

I am disappointed with this author for a couple of reasons. First, Colbert does a poor job of giving historical context when he mentions the history of race and politics. The book comes off as very simplistic about the topic. American political history is complicated, and it includes a lot of regional differences, and Colbert does not give the topic its due diligence.

Second, in the afterword he commits what I think is his greatest error. He states "When President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law, he's said to have remarked to an aide, "We've cost the Democratic Party the South for a generation." That would turn out to be an understatement. In the next election, Richard Nixon would use what he called his "Southern strategy" to make white Southerners who had voted for Democrats all their lives switch to the party that hadn't supported the civil rights movement. That strategy continues to be used, ironically by the party of Lincoln, right up to the present day, two generations later."

This statement falls somewhere between outright dishonesty and a bit of a twisting of historical fact. Interestingly, the 1964 Civil Rights Act saw a higher percentage of Republicans vote for the bill than Democrats. The vote breakdown looked like this:

The original House version:
Democratic Party: 152–96 (61–39%)
Republican Party: 138–34 (80–20%)

Cloture in the Senate:
Democratic Party: 44–23 (66–34%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)

The Senate version:
Democratic Party: 46–21 (69–31%)
Republican Party: 27–6 (82–18%)

The Senate version, voted on by the House:
Democratic Party: 153–91 (63–37%)
Republican Party: 136–35 (80–20%)

As for the statement about the "Southern strategy," I find that statement irresponsible. I thin the author is expressing a bias. Furthermore, to broad generalize an entire political party and say that they only pursue votes in the name of racism is just ridiculous. I thought the comment to be so over the top, I nearly pulled this book from my classroom library.

My favorite chapter was Day 9: June 26, 1966. it tells about King and how he not only had to fight against the hate from society and government, but he had to fight against the hate that existed inside the Civil Rights movement itself. There were many that thought the only way to fight back against the oppression that minorities experienced was to be violent. This is what makes King such a heroic individual from our history. He had the courage to stand up for what was right and to do it non-violently. When challenged from those that he agreed with, he chose to stay the course and still fight for what he believed.

I thought the following quote from Dr. King in Day 9 that was on page 128 was demonstrative of the above: "The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes...Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

Lexile: 1060

[Rachael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I would actually give this 3.5 stars. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been one of my heroes since childhood, and when I saw this new Juvenile Nonfiction paperback on the shelf at the library, I thought it would be a quick read and a way to remember him on January 19.

Here's what I liked: It's been a while since I've read a bio of Dr. King longer than 50 or so pages, so I'm not sure how much of the material was new to me. However, it did seem that Colbert included details that I didn't remember hearing about, and that would be lesser-known to his reading audience. It was a fast-paced, interesting read, and I think it would spur young readers to seeking out more about Dr. King and other Civil Rights Leaders.

What I didn't like: It was poorly edited. There were a few GLARING grammatical errors that should NOT have made it in to the published edition. Also, Colbert alternates between verb tenses A LOT, and that was distracting to me. At times, these events in King's life are depicted in present tense or even future tense, but Colbert will suddenly switch to past tense. I think he would have done better to just stick with the past tense throughout. The last thing I didn't like was the Afterword. Colbert's depiction of the MLK, Jr. Holiday becoming federal law could have ended on a much more positive note. Instead, it focused entirely too much on anti-Republican rhetoric-- what one is left to assume are the political sentiments of the author, and have little to do with Dr. King's legacy. That just didn't seem necessary to me, and makes me reluctant to seek out any of Colbert's other numerous books.

[Janet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read about thirty young adult MLK books that past week or so. This one is my favorite because it highlights 10 days out of MLK's life. The last chapter is excellent. There's a tension, a suspense, a "don't do it!" sensation that just grips the reader. It actually made me think of doing a 10 Days Autobiography writing project with my students. What would your 10 days be? I'm no MLK, but here are my days...

December 20, 1988 --my mom died
January 21, 1992-- the day Joe Jansen failed his APGAR tests for the first 10 minutes of his life, but then rallied
May 1, 1995-- College Graduation---5 years later than I should have (lesson learned)
July 16, 1996 --Pearl Street acquisition and announcement of miracle baby Elle
June 5, 2000 -- Sicily with Dad, Aunt Judy and Joe-Joe
August 24, 2002 --Overwhelmed by friend's suicide and First REAL teaching job
July 6, 2006--Read the beatitudes in the Ninth Ward
January 2007--started an 18 month journey of understanding impacts of depression on loved ones
February 1, 2009 --learned not to trust Christians who say "I prayed about it, so it's God's will."
June 18, 2009--Celebrated my birthday in Kathmandu--this day will be hard to beat
November 29, 2010 --my dad died

[Sarah Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 10 Days series attempts to cover the life of a historical figure through the lens of ten experiences. The story of Martin Luther King Jr. begins with a page and a half introduction explaining Dr. King’s significance. The first “day”, a moment of racial injustice from his teenage years, gives the background on his family and the Jim Crow laws, setting the stage for the civil rights efforts to come. In addition to describing Dr. King’s work, the influential organizations and leaders during the movement are given fair play and difficult topics (violence, extra-marital affairs) are handled in a straightforward, honest manner. Sprinkled with quotes, the narrative gives a sense of personal insight into the mind of this historical legend. Each chapter begins with a detailed small moment and then goes back in time to describe the preceding events and some of what happened after. While this adds a sense of excitement, the chronological mix up might confuse some young readers. A few typographical errors detract from the quality, but overall this is an even-handed and engaging introduction to Dr. King’s role in history.

[Santhoshini · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin Luther King Jr. (10 Days)
By: David Colbert
147 pages
Biography
Date Finished: 3/21/13
This book is about the achievements and nonviolent protests led by Martin Luther King Jr. so African Americans could have equal rights as everyone else in America, and so segregation was put to an end. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi's beliefs of protesting peacefully, with no violence, Martin Luther King leads several groups to finding equality among everyone. With his heart touching speeches, Martin Luther KIng Jr. fights for equality, and no segregation. David Colbert summarizes the most important events of Martin Luther King Jr.'s life in ten "days".

I thought this was a pretty good book about Martin Luther King Jr.'s achievements. It was definitely and inspiring book, like when the author talks about King's speeches. I learned a lot from this book, and more about his, "I have a dream" speech. Sometimes there would be there would be confusing times in the book, since there would be a lot of things going at once, but it was still a very nice read. Overall I would give this book three out of four stars.

[Zachary Schiltz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was an amazing book, because it's how Martin Luther King Jr. changed the world for the better. I chose this book because I love history, and I love his "I have a dream" speech. I would for sure recommend this to other students, because as much as I like history, this book still taught me a lesson on Martin Luther King Jr.. My favorite part of this book was of course his "I have a dream" speech, how he didn't have the audiences attention, and then someone yelled out; "Tell them about the dream!" Then he did, and then he had a complete hold on the audiences attention. If I could change one thing about this book it would be to put in his entire "I have a dream" speech, not just what it was. This book however was once again a bit hard to follow since its about the ten most important days of his life, and those days aren't in a row, so it does jump around a bit.

[Melissa Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good choice for 5th graders...this series might make for much more interesting Biography reports. Instead of going into details about the less important aspects, it focuses on the 10 most important dates in MLK, jr's life.

"You're about to be an eyewitness to the ten crucial days in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life, including His faith in peace leads to a surprising protest.Police injustice shocks the nation awake.A personal sacrifice challenges prejudice and racism.A fearless march demands rights for all Americans.And an immortal speech inspires the world. These days and five others shook King's world -and yours."

[Kay Mcgriff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure about the organization of this book at first. How could you give a sense of such a complex and dynamic individual as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in just 10 days? By focusing on 10 pivotal days in King’s life, Colbert weaves in many of the issues facing King and the history of the Civil Rights movement. Once again, I am shocked and horrified at the violence that met the protesters. I am impressed with the courage with which King met white bigotry and violence and with which he brought together people with very different philosophies.

First published on my blog at http://kaymcgriff.edublogs.org/2013/0...

[Maryann · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful way to approach MLK! Our entire middle school of almost 1000 students was given this book (along with a copy of The Watsons Go To Birmingham - 1963). The students did many activities basedn the MLK book including found poetry, posters and I Have a Dream goals. Additionally the author did a Skype interview assembly with our student body. Great guy with great wit and honest answers to our students' questions. Look forward to using the book again next year and reading his othe books in his 10 Days series. Thanks, David!

[Mackenziet · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was actually pretty interesting. I mean i've learned most of this stuff already in social studies but it was still cool to get more info about it. He was a really inspirational character. He went through a lot and I mean a lot of stuff as a kid. Its amazing how he just stood up for his people and changed the world. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a nonfiction book. Or also anyone who wants a GOOD nonfiction book.

[Surya Mudaliar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned many things about the great guy, Martin Luther King Jr. This guy is amazing. Very non-violent. The guy whom i loved. He is my hero,role model. The principles of his are amazing.The guy who had survived everything to lead his people against the whole america. The last three to four days were so interesting, i can't stop reading the book. The one star i didn't give because at the first three chapters i felt something missing, the life of the book was gone there

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very accessible look at the defining moments of MLK Jr's life, with enough backstory linking the days covered that those who are not overly familiar with his life will be able to easily follow the flow. The content warrants 4 stars, but there were a surprising number of grammatical errors throughout that were fairly distracting.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book with my sixth graders and learned so much about the world of the south I knew nothing about growing up in Orange County. This book was a challenging read for many of my students, yet it spurred much discussion about human rights. Great companion to novels that deal with race and prejudice. Next we will read The Watsons go to Burmingham.

[Isakskaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

martin luther king jr, was borned in 1929. he was a super smart boy who skipped two grades, a man who believed in peaceful protest, a great leader of civil rights movement. Martin Luther King Jr was a man that really made freedom for the poor white and the black people. as young Martin Jr experienced a lot of different treatment, in the south it was much worse than in the north.