National Book Award Winner

In the wake of the historic election of our first African-American president, there is cause to look back and appreciate the unacknowledged heroes on whose shoulders this victory, in part, rests. One such individual is Claudette Colvin, who is the subject of National Book-Award finalist Phillip Hoose’s forthcoming nonfiction title CLAUDETTE COLVIN: TWICE TOWARD JUSTICE (Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Melanie Kroupa Books / February 2, 2009).

The book reveals the true story of Ms. Colvin, who, as a fifteen-year old in 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white woman, nine months before Rosa Parks took a similar stand. Ms. Colvin then went on to challenge segregation a second time, as a key plaintiff in the landmark case of Browder v. Gayle, which struck down the bus segregation laws in Montgomery.

The Montgomery Advertiser notes, “Barack Obama expressed an opinion eloquently . . . when he said . . .  ‘It’s a long time coming, but because of what we did on this day, at this defining moment, change has come to America.’ Actually, that change started long, long ago. The roots . . . can be found in many places, but none more so than this community, which can legitimately claim to be one of the premier birthplaces of the modern Civil Rights Movement. Without the work and sacrifices of people like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, E.D. Nixon, Fred Gray, [and] Claudette Colvin . . . what happened at the polls Tuesday could never have occurred.”

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The Adèle & Simon
Web site

You fell in love with Adèle & Simon (an ALA
Notable Book; a Children's Book Sense Pick).
Now the siblings are on a tour of America,
visiting 12 locations, with their Aunt Cécile in
Adèle & Simon in America. Extend the fun
through activities, discussion questions, web-links and more at www.adeleandsimon.com, perfect for grade K-5.