Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice

Hoose, P. (2009). Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice. Canada: Douglas &McIntyre

Appropriate grade levels:

7-12. The language and content would be inappropriate before seventh grade. Interestingly, amazon has it labeled as Ages 9-12 as well as Young Adult (hardcover and paperback.) I think the cover is deceiving- the book seems like it is written for upper elementary school children but the main character is a teenager (graduating from high school) with teenage perspectives and feelings and this book would be better left for older students. Often books are given to children at too young of an age and they never learn to appreciate the true value of a book if they read the book too early.

Summary:

Claudette Colvin, a fiery, bright teenager with college in her future, grew up in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 during a trying time of unfair Jim Crow laws for African Americans. Angered at the treatment of African Americans, Claudette refuses to give up her seat in the "colored" section of the bus to a white person and was arrested almost a year before Rosa Parks. Claudette's arrest sparked the planning of the bus boycott and the eventual overturning of a Jim Crow law, thus providing a crucial step in the right direction of freedom and equality for African Americans. Claudette's struggles as a teenager confound, frustrate, and ripple through her life as she struggles with growing up, romance, parental issues, death of a loved one all while fighting for justice in her own way. Claudette's descriptions and encounters with well known heroes such as Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr give the reader amazing insight into a trying time in our history. Hoose' conversational writing gives the reader great insight into Claudette's inner-life and coupled with the amazing story of a brave teenager make this book a must read for young adults and adults of all ages, backgrounds, and races.

Classroom Use:

- Use with Literature Circles during a nonfiction unit

- Writing connection: students write journals from the perspective of Claudette during this time.

- Writing connection: students create a glogster page of another unsung hero using Hoose style of combined media: newspaper articles, conversations (students would create how a conversation could go or interview someone they know), and stories about this hero.

- Reading strategies: re-reading the text to check for comprehension is an essential component of reading nonfiction and would be especially helpful for this book because of the mixed media on one page. Students could also practice identifying text features and structures as the mixed-media format of this book allows for a variety of both text features and structures.

- Literature analysis: bias of an author of nonfiction writing. Students can examine what the author's opinion, what is fact and what biases may or may not exist in his writing.

Reader’s Response:

I often wonder where bravery comes from. I've read many books where the brave act is discussed at length, people's reactions to the act are reported, and what happens to the hero after the fact is told. I'm often left wondering how the hero came to act bravely. What from their life or childhood drove them to do things that would put them in danger? Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice is a nonfiction story that does not leave the reader wondering. Her life is clearly explained from her complex parental/living situation to the death of her sister from polio and it shows how events came together to cause Claudette to be angry enough to refuse to listen to a bus driver who was asking her to do something that was outside of the confines of the law. It was fascinating to learn how Claudette's arrest, not the first arrest but the first in which someone pleaded not guilty, sparked such a monumental event and change in our history.

Hoose' style is engaging, especially for teenagers. Claudette, although older when she told her story to Hoose, describes her story from the eyes of a teenager. Teenagers have heard about Rosa Parks for years but I am not sure that they can understand the impact of the decision to get arrested to stand up for your rights unless they read Claudette's account.

She states, "Now I was a criminal... I would have a police record whenever I went to get a job, or when I tried to go to college... I hadn't done anything wrong. Not everyone knew the bus rule that said they couldn't make you get up and stand if there was no seat available for you to go to- but I did" (45).

Teenagers will able to see that Claudette had to face the consequences of her actions and was willing to do this to stand up for justice.

Although this book is non-fiction and historically well researched and accurate, it reads like a story which is a benefit for many adult and young adult readers. The insights into Claudette's emotions and feelings draw the reader in and make the reader want to keep reading.

Claudette describes her feelings about her arrest, "I cried a lot, and people saw me cry. They kept saying I was "emotional." Well, who wouldn't be emotional after something like that? Tell me, who wouldn't cry? (45).

Claudette's descriptions of her emotions are so relatable that teenagers will be drawn into this story and connect with her feelings and emotions. In many ways, it makes sense that a teenager was the spark for this great historical event. Teenagers are known for acting upon their feelings and Claudette is no exception. She wonders why adults are not doing anything to fix the obvious injustices and she is right to wonder. Teenagers have the passion and spark to ignite the flames and it's unfortunate she did not get more credit.

While Claudette was not always treated with the utmost respect, given as much credit as she deserved for her brave actions, or taken as seriously as she should have been, I have comfort in the fact that her actions caused what she desired in the end: an end to a Jim Crow law and bus segregation in Montogomery Alabama. I can rest easier at night knowing that Claudette did get some credit for her actions, albeit much later in life both with the publication of this book and her honor of Times Magazines most important 100 people as stated in the New York Times article:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/26/books/26colvin.html

Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice will leave the reader thinking about American history and how many other unsung heroes have helped create the amazing and much more just society that Americans live in today.