Claudette Colvin review by JDaws
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Jane Addams Honor Book (Awards))
by Phillip M Hoose
Age Range - 12 and up
Genre - Biography

LitPick Review

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Age at time of review - 12
Reviewer's Location - Libertyville, IL, United States
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Twice Toward Justice is a true story about a teenage girl named Claudette Colvin. It's a moving story of a teenage girl who not only dreams of justice but does everything in her power to make it happen for not only herself, but for others. Claudette was a strong willed teenage girl who knows right from wrong. Ever since she was little she'd hear adults, including her parents, complain about all the injustices that people of color suffer. A main part of the injustices were on the buses. In Montgomery at this time almost all people of color rode buses to and from work, because it was affordable transportation to their low paying jobs. Claudette wanted to make a difference. She was tired of hearing people complain and not do anything about it. Most of all she wanted to stand up for what she believed in. So when a white person gets on the bus, Claudette refuses to give up her seat. She saw nothing wrong with the woman standing, she looked healthy enough and wasn't pregnant or ill. So why couldn't she stand? The police dragged Claudette off the bus to jail, where her parents later picked her up. Claudette had started talk in the town, and a slow yet forceful domino effect started. She had been the first in her town to actually do something about the injustices on the buses. She was a strong, passionate speaker. Later on a white man takes advantage of Claudette, which isn't unusual in her town. Soon she finds that she's pregnant. Did this make Claudette trip and fall? Sure, Claudette had always been a bright girl in school and would have had a brilliant future in front of her. But she got right back up and dealt with it, because she couldn't change it. This teenage mom is invited to speak as a witness, and to tell her story about the bus to the court. This trial will determine whether or not state law will be changed so that Negroes can sit where they want on the buses. Claudette's voice will be the factor that either makes or breaks the case.

Opinion: 

I thought this book was truly inspirational. The message propels the whole book forward in a positive direction. Even when it talked about all the negative things that happened to Negroes, I had to think wow how lucky am I? Any book that gives you goose-bumps like it did to me when I read this book, is a book to be celebrated.

Rating:
4
Content Rating:

Content rating - nothing offensive
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