One of my goals this summer, other than reading a book every day, is to read more nonfiction. There are so many great nonfiction titles out there but I tend to gravitate towards fiction books. For my day three book I read Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose. This is an amazing story and a shocking little known one! Claudette Colvin was a fifteen year old high school junior when she stood up for her basic human rights. All of her life growing up in Montgomery, Alabama, Claudette lived as a second class citizen and she heard adults talk about change and challenging a system that denied them their rights but all she heard was talk. On a March 2, 1955 Claudette made her stand. She was on the bus on her way home. All of the seats were taken and a white woman walked onto the bus. The driver told Claudette to give up her seat, Claudette said no. She refused when the driver stopped the bus and screamed at her, she refused when the two police officers boarded the bus and as the police dragged her off the bus she kept repeating, “It’s my constitutional right.” Claudette spent time in the city prison she was tried and convicted of violating the segregation laws and “assaulting” police officer. Claudette went onto be the key witness in Browder vs. Gayle, the federal case that ruled segregation of the buses was unconstitutional. Claudette’s stand took place nine months before Rosa Park’s but her story is little known. This is an amazing story for young people to hear. That someone so young could spark a movement and inspire adults to act is a tale of the power that young people can have in this world. Some of the topics and language in the book are for older students. I would recommend this book for fifth grade and up.
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