A noteworthy start for chapter-book readers wishing to read more about young leaders of the movement.
Cline-Ransom writes the moving story of young civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin in this chapter-book biography that expands the She Persisted picture-book series created by Chelsea Clinton and Alexandra Boiger.
Weaving together detailed historical background and personal information about Colvin’s life, Cline-Ransome brings the teen activist to life with great compassion and impressive brevity. From her humble beginnings in Pine Level, Alabama, to the loss of her sister to polio when Colvin was 13, readers learn the personal struggles the youth experienced as well as some of her triumphs, such as her frequent victories in class spelling bees, before being pushed into the spotlight for refusing to give up her seat to a White woman months before Rosa Parks would. The book very briefly discusses the politics behind why Colvin is lesser-known than Rosa Parks, focusing on community activists’ leeriness of her youth and not mentioning her pregnancy. With an eye toward the audience, the book keeps Colvin’s emotional journey at its heart even as it summarizes the boycott in conclusion. Flint’s occasional black-and-white interior illustrations emulate Boiger’s airy style, depicting Colvin with her loving family, riding in a Montgomery bus in a scene foreshadowing her history-making moment, and praying in a jail cell. Suggestions for how readers might persist appear in the backmatter.
A noteworthy start for chapter-book readers wishing to read more about young leaders of the movement. (further reading, websites) (Biography. 6-9)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11583-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses.
An NBA star pays tribute to the influence of his grandfather.
In the same vein as his Long Shot (2009), illustrated by Frank Morrison, this latest from Paul prioritizes values and character: “My granddad Papa Chilly had dreams that came true,” he writes, “so maybe if I listen and watch him, / mine will too.” So it is that the wide-eyed Black child in the simply drawn illustrations rises early to get to the playground hoops before anyone else, watches his elder working hard and respecting others, hears him cheering along with the rest of the family from the stands during games, and recalls in a prose afterword that his grandfather wasn’t one to lecture but taught by example. Paul mentions in both the text and the backmatter that Papa Chilly was the first African American to own a service station in North Carolina (his presumed dream) but not that he was killed in a robbery, which has the effect of keeping the overall tone positive and the instructional content one-dimensional. Figures in the pictures are mostly dark-skinned. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
Blandly inspirational fare made to evoke equally shrink-wrapped responses. (Picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: Jan. 10, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-81003-8
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal.
Before growing up to become a major figure in the civil rights movement, a boy finds a role model.
Buffing up a childhood tale told by her renowned father, Young Shelton describes how young Andrew saw scary men marching in his New Orleans neighborhood (“It sounded like they were yelling ‘Hi, Hitler!’ ”). In response to his questions, his father took him to see a newsreel of Jesse Owens (“a runner who looked like me”) triumphing in the 1936 Olympics. “Racism is a sickness,” his father tells him. “We’ve got to help folks like that.” How? “Well, you can start by just being the best person you can be,” his father replies. “It’s what you do that counts.” In James’ hazy chalk pastels, Andrew joins racially diverse playmates (including a White child with an Irish accent proudly displaying the nickel he got from his aunt as a bribe to stop playing with “those Colored boys”) in tag and other games, playing catch with his dad, sitting in the midst of a cheering crowd in the local theater’s segregated balcony, and finally visualizing himself pelting down a track alongside his new hero—“head up, back straight, eyes focused,” as a thematically repeated line has it, on the finish line. An afterword by Young Shelton explains that she retold this story, told to her many times growing up, drawing from conversations with Young and from her own research; family photos are also included. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A pivotal moment in a child’s life, at once stirring and authentically personal. (illustrator’s note) (Autobiographical picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-545-55465-7
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2022
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