Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (Newbery Honor Book; National Book Award Winner)

Phillip Hoose

Jan 2009 · Sold by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

About this ebook

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER AND NEWBERY HONOR BOOK ● Before Rosa Parks, there was 15-year-old Claudette Colvin. Read the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure in this multi-award winning, mega-selling biography from the incomparable Phillip Hoose.

“When it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, ‘This is not right.’” —Claudette Colvin

On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders. Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South.

Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first major biography of a remarkable civil rights hero, skillfully weaving her riveting story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.

Awards and Praise for Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
National Book Award Winner
A Newbery Honor Book
A YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist
A Robert F. Sibert Honor Book
Amazon.com 100 Biographies and Memoirs to Read in a Lifetime

“Hoose's book, based in part on interviews with Colvin and people who knew her—finally gives her the credit she deserves.” —The New York Times Book Review

“Claudette's eloquent bravery is unforgettable.” —The Wall Street Journal

★ “This inspiring title shows the incredible difference that a single young person can make.” —Booklist, starred review

Ratings and reviews

Most American school children know the story of Rosa Parks, but few know that before Rosa Parks started her protest there was a brave young teen who challenged the segregation laws in Montgomery, Alabama. This is an amazing story - I read it in one sitting, it was so engrossing - of Claudette Colvin and her courage to speak up against the injustices of segregation. It's a great nonfiction for young adults - clear, descriptive background information, and many first-person accounts from interviews with Claudette and others. Fantastic.

Love this book so much! Her life story just draws you in with suspense!

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About the author

Phillip Hoose is an award-winning author of books, essays, stories, songs and articles. Although he first wrote for adults, he turned his attention to children and young adults in part to keep up with his own daughters. Claudette Colvin won a National Book Award and was dubbed a Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2009. He is also the author of Hey, Little Ant, co-authored by his daughter, Hannah, It's Our World, Too!, The Race to Save the Lord God Bird, and We Were There, Too!, a National Book Award finalist. He has received a Jane Addams Children's Book Award, a Christopher Award, and a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, among numerous honors. He was born in South Bend, Indiana, and grew up in the towns of South Bend, Angola, and Speedway, Indiana. He was educated at Indiana University and the Yale School of Forestry. He lives in Portland, Maine.