The book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is a story about the Civil Rights Movement and specifically, the Montgomery bus boycott. Claudette ColThe book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is a story about the Civil Rights Movement and specifically, the Montgomery bus boycott. Claudette Colvin was the first person to refuse to give up her bus seat to a white person when she was only 16. Because of her age, many believed that she should not be the face of the movement, therefore, today many of us have heard more about Rosa Parks refusing to give up her seat on the bus. The book is very rich in cultural details about the Civil Rights Movement and the Montgomery bus boycott. There are many photographs included in the book that exhibit the number of people that chose to walk instead of ride the bus, along with mug shots of the numerous people that were indicted on conspiracy charges (Hoose, 81.) The story is written in a unique format, most of the story is told in 3rd person narrative, but the author does include narrative of Claudette Colvin told in first person. The first person narrative of Claudette Colvin allows the reader to get inside Claudette’s head and in turn better understand her thoughts and feelings. For example, after Claudette was convicted of assaulting a police officer many of her fellow classmates began to turn on her and she said, “I had taken a stand for my people. I had stood up for our rights. I hadn’t expected to become a hero, but I sure didn’t expect this” (Hooser, 45). Through this first person narrative you are able to feel the hurt that Claudette was experiencing after knowing she did the right thing that would push the movement further in the right direction. Phillip Hooser’s book is also very well written and accurate; he made sure to include a bibliography at the end of his book that contains many articles and web sites that he referenced. Every picture that Hooser included in his book benefits and relates to the text following the picture. Many of the pictures include captions which makes it easy for the reader to evaluate the photographs. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice does honor the common bonds of humanity because it so clearly depicts the freedom that the African Americans were fighting for that the white people had already obtained. The African Americans just wished to be treated equally and because they so deeply wanted these rights they didn’t stop until they received them. The reading level of this book would most likely be 8th grade or above. I would use this book in the classroom during a unit about the Civil Rights Movement.
Hoose, P. (2009). Claudette Colvin: Twice toward justice. New York, NY: Melanie Kroupa Books/Farrar Straus Giroux....more
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