Summary: This book is about imagining what it would be like to be a child during the civil rights in the 1960s. It follows the story of two main characters, Mark and Connie, as they navigate and fight for what freedom looks like for them. Mark is a young person who just moved to the south from Washington DC where he went to an integrated school and is now adjusting to what it is like to be in a segregated school system in Oklahoma. Connie, a very curious and adventurous young person, overhears her brothers talking about going somewhere one day and is very intrigued about where they could be going or what they could be doing. The brothers had been denied service at the local ice cream shop and were a part of organizing a demonstration at the ice cream shop. The story follows Mark and Connie’s curious it’s as they experience a demonstration, the police and racism up close. While Mark and Connie are non-fictional characters on almost every page there is an info box that has a summary of a fictional event that happened during civil rights movement. Some of those events and artifacts include Little Rock nine, Ruby Bridges, the green book and the Montgomery bus boycott.
Element 4: This book is a great example of element four because it has young people as the main characters and looks at what social movements look like through a young person‘s perspective. It brings young people to the forefront as the changemakers of a generation but it also shows the real vulnerability and fear that comes with protesting, boycotting and shifting society. It also shows the very real every day, fears and terrors of the civil rights for a young person in the book. It has a number of non-fictional events that affected young people. The story of Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old navigating the civil rights movement. The church bombing that killed four little girls is also mentioned, those girls were adolescent and teenagers. Another example is the Little Rock Nine that included nine students that went to attend an all white high school.
Activity: As an educator, I would use this book to talk about youth led movements, and the literary element of compare and contrast. As we look at venn diagram, similarities, and differences, we can make a venn diagram to talk about different movements and how they have been similar or different to one another. For example, we can talk about March for Our Lives and a youth led sit in during the civil rights movement.
To recap what we learned from multiple movements, each young person will make a zine with words and visuals based on what they learned about social movements and social change.
Resources:
https://www.zinnedproject.org/materials/the-young-crusaders/
https://www.blacklivesmatteratschool.com/curriculum.html
Book:
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