Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice in Crazy Challenge Connection

Mar 31, 2011 Sue rated it it was amazing

Shelves: biography, juvenile, southern, newbery-honor, library

This was well-written and illuminating. I knew that Rosa Parks was the secretary of the Montgomery NAACP and didn't just spontaneously decide not to move when asked by the bus driver. However, I was unaware of Claudette who did it earlier and unplanned. She was arrested, handcuffed and hauled to jail as teenager and it was a spark that led to the later, more planned Montgomery bus boycott. She was also one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit that integrated Montgomery's bus system. But as a student ...more

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Feb 08, 2012 Darlene rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2012, read-alouds, biography, history, non-fiction

I chose this book for the February Task of the 2012 Versatile Reading Challenge, which was to read a non-fiction book in recognition of Black/African History Month. It has won numerous literary awards, including: National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2009), Newbery Honor (2010), A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2009), Cybils Award Nominee for Middle Grade/Young Adult Non-Fiction (2009), Sibert Honor (2010), an ALA Notable Children's Book for Older Readers (2010), Doro I chose this book for the February Task of the 2012 Versatile Reading Challenge, which was to read a non-fiction book in recognition of Black/African History Month. It has won numerous literary awards, including: National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2009), Newbery Honor (2010), A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year (2009), Cybils Award Nominee for Middle Grade/Young Adult Non-Fiction (2009), Sibert Honor (2010), an ALA Notable Children's Book for Older Readers (2010), Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children's Book Award Nominee (2011), and YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Nominee (2010).

I read this book aloud to my children. It deals with the racial segregation laws that were in place in the 1950s in Montgomery, Alabama specifically as they related to bus passengers. Back then, there was a “white” section of the bus and a “coloured” section. All riders entered through the front door and dropped their coins in the fare box. If there were white passengers already aboard, a black passenger had to leave the bus and re-enter through the rear door after paying the fare. The first four rows, each containing ten seats, were reserved for the white folks. Even if there were no white passengers aboard, the black passengers could not sit in those rows and were forced to stand if the rest of the bus was full! If the first four rows were full and a new white passenger boarded the bus, the driver would order the black passengers to relinquish their seat. Unbelievably, every black person in a row would have to give up his seat for one white passenger to sit in the row because whites and blacks could not sit in the same row!!

Claudette Colvin was a mere 15 year-old teenager when she decided to take a stand and refuse to give up her seat for a white passenger. Police were called, and Claudette was removed from the bus claiming that it was her constitutional right that she did not have to give up her seat if there were no empty seats. This young lady’s actions were the catalyst that led to the 381-day bus boycott by blacks, which financially crippled the Montgomery City Lines bus company which lost $3,200 per day. Claudette, together with three other women, sued the City of Montgomery and the State of Alabama [Browder v. Gayle] arguing that segregated buses were unconstitutional. One of the judges said that, “The testimony of...Miss Colvin and the others reinforced the Constitution’s position that you can’t abridge the freedoms of the individual. The boycott case was a simple case of legal and human rights being denied.” The city appealed the case, but the decision was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court. After federal marshals served written notices on city officials, the city was forced to abide by the judge’s decision to integrate the buses.

My children and I found this book fascinating. Racial discrimination is not something that my kids have ever been exposed to, so they were appalled to find out how African American people were treated back then. The book is filled with black and white photographs depicting the “whites only” and “colored only” signs on buses and establishments such as movie theatres, restaurants, and hospitals. It certainly was an eye-opening look into a sad part of American history, and it taught my children that anyone can be instrumental in making a change, even a child like Claudette Colvin.

MY RATING: 4 stars! We really enjoyed it and recommend it as a wonderful addition to Black/African History studies! ...more

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Mar 20, 2021 Brindi Michele rated it really liked it

Shelves: juvenile, ys-advisory, adult-nonfiction, ys-nonfiction, biography, national-book-award, bookstagram

National Book Award 2009

Reading this after finishing Blackout: How Black America Can Make Its Second Escape from the Democrat Plantation by Candace Owens has me so broken-hearted and discouraged. The changes that were slowly being made, the people who stood up for their rights (Rosa Parks, MLK, Jr., Claudette Colvin), all of the progress towards a better America, fighting against segregation.... it's like the last few years we've taken HUGE steps BACKWARDS. It's devastating, and I'm afraid these ...more

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