JUNE 2017 - AudioFile
Damaras Obi who, with director Ally Sheedy, adapted this book for the stage, turns in a robust performance as the youngest child to participate in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. Lynda Blackmon Lowery recounts her childhood in Selma where, after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speak, she enthusiastically joined the fight for voting rights and was jailed nine times before her fifteenth birthday. One missed opportunity in an otherwise laudable production is the lack of an African-American Alabama accent, as Obi’s voice is unmistakably tinged with New York City, thereby removing accuracy of place and culture. But, overall, Obi expertly voices a broad array of emotions, from excitement to terror to exhilaration, allowing listeners to fully grasp the turbulence of the Civil Rights era. S.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
11/24/2014
Lowery’s dogged participation as a teen in the fight for equal civil rights—as told to Leacock and Buckley (collaborators on Journeys for Freedom and other titles)—offers a gripping story told in conversational language. “We learned the drill real quick: We went to jail, we came back out, and then we went to jail again.... Pretty soon we knew to take our own little bologna sandwiches... because jail food just wasn’t good.” The matter-of-fact tone often belies the danger Lowery and other protesting teenagers faced. Enhancing the narrative’s appeal are Loughran’s dramatic comics–style illustrations, which accompany archival photos. As the 1965 march to Montgomery drew closer, Lowery found herself in increasingly dangerous situations (e.g., the sweatbox in jail or being tear-gassed). Undeterred by fear, she joined the historic march, offering her description of what it was like as the youngest participant on the wet, four-day journey. In time to mark the march’s 50th anniversary, this recounting informs and inspires. An afterword briefly explains U.S. segregation history and profiles people who lost their lives in connection with the march. Ages 12–up. (Jan.)
From the Publisher
A Sibert Informational Book Medal Honor Book
Kirkus Best Books of 2015
Booklist Editors' Choice 2015
BCCB Blue Ribbon 2015
"Vivid details and the immediacy of Lowery's voice make this a valuable primary document as well as a pleasure to read."—Kirkus, starred review
"One of those rare books that is geniunely accessible to a broad audience."—BCCB, starred review
"This inspiring personal story illuminates pivotal events in America's history."—Booklist, starred review
School Library Journal
01/01/2015
Gr 5 Up—One of the youngest participants in the 1965 voting rights march in Alabama, Lowery provides a moving first-person account of her experience. Through this thought-provoking volume, the picture of an incredibly courageous young woman emerges. Lowery effectively conveys the enormity of the injustices in her world and the danger that those she knew encountered daily. Lowery shows what people, including children, are capable of when they stand together. Readers will appreciate what the author endured, including being jailed nine times before she turned 15. Lowery includes many intricate details, such as what the marchers ate and where they slept. The illustrations are a mix of photographs and cartoonish drawings, which bring a graphic novel-like feel to this memoir. A concluding chapter explains the fight for voting rights and contains short biographies of those who died for the cause. This is an honest, powerful historical work, straight from the source.—Heather Acerro, Rochester Public Library, MN
JUNE 2017 - AudioFile
Damaras Obi who, with director Ally Sheedy, adapted this book for the stage, turns in a robust performance as the youngest child to participate in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in 1965. Lynda Blackmon Lowery recounts her childhood in Selma where, after hearing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., speak, she enthusiastically joined the fight for voting rights and was jailed nine times before her fifteenth birthday. One missed opportunity in an otherwise laudable production is the lack of an African-American Alabama accent, as Obi’s voice is unmistakably tinged with New York City, thereby removing accuracy of place and culture. But, overall, Obi expertly voices a broad array of emotions, from excitement to terror to exhilaration, allowing listeners to fully grasp the turbulence of the Civil Rights era. S.G. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2014-10-22
In 1965, Lynda Blackmon Lowery turned 15 during the three-day voting rights march from Selma to Montgomery. In this vibrant memoir, Lowery's conversational voice effectively relates her experiences in the civil rights movement on and before that march. The youngest person on the march, she'd already been jailed nine times as a protester, once for six days and once in a hot, windowless "sweatbox" where all the girls passed out. At a protest on "Bloody Sunday," earlier in 1965, a state trooper beat her so badly she needed 35 stitches in her head. The terror of that beating haunted her on the march to Montgomery, but she gained confidence from facing her fear and joining forces with so many, including whites whose concern amazed her after a childhood of segregation. Lowery's simple, chronological narrative opens and closes with lyrics of freedom songs. Appendices discuss voting rights and briefly profile people who died on or around "Bloody Sunday." Double-page spread color illustrations between chapters, smaller retro-style color pictures and black-and-white photographs set in generous white space will appeal even to reluctant readers. Vivid details and the immediacy of Lowery's voice make this a valuable primary document as well as a pleasure to read. (Memoir. 11-16)
