Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
By Phillip Hoose
Melanie Kroupa Books, 2009. 133 pgs. Young Adult Nonfiction

In this highly acclaimed book (Newbery Honor Book, National Book Award winner), Hoose combines first-person accounts from Claudette Colvin with third-person narrative to tell Claudette's story. Raised in Alabama, Claudette was subject to the Jim Crow laws of the south, including segregated buses. However, one day, months before Rosa Parks, fifteen-year-old Claudette refused to give up her seat on the bus. While it was after Parks' arrest that the Montgomery bus boycott was organized, Claudette's arrest was the one that got people talking. Additionally, Claudette was an essential part of the lawsuit in which she and three other black women sued the city of Montgomery, arguing that segregated buses were illegal, thereby forcing the end of segregated buses.

With all the recognition this book has received, I was expecting great things--and I wasn't disappointed. This is a fascinating account of a forgotten but important figure in the civil rights movement. Besides just being a lesson in history, though, it helped round out Claudette and other people involved in the movement as real people; Claudette's feelings and glimpses of other people (such as Parks) through her eyes really add depth to both Claudette's story and the segregation and subsequent civil rights movement in Montgomery. Excellent book for teens and adults alike.

AE