Competition is stiff for the National Book Awards. Current classics are recognized and awarded for their
literary excellence through which they achieve a certain level of immortality to their shelf life. The 2009 finalists were impressive as usual and I can’t imagine the burden of selecting just one per category. Still, I was pleased to hear that Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice by Phillip Hoose won for Young People’s Literature.
The book retells the story of Claudette Colvin, the fifteen year-old African American girl who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama months before Rosa Parks kick-started the Civil Rights Movement with that same rebellious act. The NAACP considered making Claudette the poster-child for the Movement, using her case to help take other issues of inequality up to the Supreme Court. In the end, her teenage pregnancy and social status made her less eligible for the job and 9 months after Claudette was dragged off the bus, Rosa Parks made a stand. The courageous acts of that teenager were lost, overshadowed by what came next, making Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice news to many of us who never learned about her in school.
After extensive interviews with Ms. Colvin, Hoose wove together an intimate portrait of a girl with the tumultuous backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s not the first time Hoose has set out to teach history to kids through examples of kids in history. His 2001 title, We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History is a collection of true stories about kids and young adults (all 18 and under) who made an impact – a title which was, in a sense, the catalyst for his writings on Claudette.
Channie Waites’s reading is crisp, providing a clear juxtaposition of the girl’s story and the world in which it’s set, and transitioning between a history lesson and a firsthand account of one person’s experience. Her narration, while matter-of-fact on the details, takes on the personality of the cast when shifting into Claudette’s mind & words. The character voices are wonderfully expressive, whisking the reader into the courthouse or the Colvins’ living room. Rich with detail and historical fact, Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice holds interest in and out of the classroom, across all ages.
The book retells the story of Claudette Colvin, the fifteen year-old African American girl who refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama months before Rosa Parks kick-started the Civil Rights Movement with that same rebellious act. The NAACP considered making Claudette the poster-child for the Movement, using her case to help take other issues of inequality up to the Supreme Court. In the end, her teenage pregnancy and social status made her less eligible for the job and 9 months after Claudette was dragged off the bus, Rosa Parks made a stand. The courageous acts of that teenager were lost, overshadowed by what came next, making Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice news to many of us who never learned about her in school.
After extensive interviews with Ms. Colvin, Hoose wove together an intimate portrait of a girl with the tumultuous backdrop of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s not the first time Hoose has set out to teach history to kids through examples of kids in history. His 2001 title, We Were There, Too!: Young People in U.S. History is a collection of true stories about kids and young adults (all 18 and under) who made an impact – a title which was, in a sense, the catalyst for his writings on Claudette.
Channie Waites’s reading is crisp, providing a clear juxtaposition of the girl’s story and the world in which it’s set, and transitioning between a history lesson and a firsthand account of one person’s experience. Her narration, while matter-of-fact on the details, takes on the personality of the cast when shifting into Claudette’s mind & words. The character voices are wonderfully expressive, whisking the reader into the courthouse or the Colvins’ living room. Rich with detail and historical fact, Claudette Colvin – Twice Toward Justice holds interest in and out of the classroom, across all ages.
Also available on Playaway through Recorded Books, the 2009 National Book Award Winner for Fiction, Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann.
Posted by Caroline Duke
Playaway Content Development Coordinator
