Monday, October 16, 2017

Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1962 by Brimner - ADVISABLE

Brimner, Larry Dane Twelve Days in May: Freedom Ride 1962, 97 pages. NON-FICTION.  Calkins Creek, 2017. $19. 

In May 1961, thirteen people, both black and white, boarded two buses in Washington D.C. to test federal laws from 1947 that don’t allow segregation in bus terminals for interstate buses.  On the fifth day of the journey things start to get difficult and by the time they get to Alabama, the entire United States knows about their mission and the Klan has pulled out all their stops to give them a “welcome” they won’t forget.  Segregation was the way of life in the South and there was no way any uppity whites and blacks from the North were going to tell the South how to treat its blacks. 

Brimner clearly and simply delineates the precedents and events of these days in the early 1960’s.  I’ve read other books and seen documentaries about the Freedom Riders and I found this one to be clear and powerful enough for students to really gravitate to.

MS – ADVISABLE.  Cindy, Library Teacher

No comments: