I've been reading a bit about Martin Luther King Jr's prophetic last speech, given April 3, 1968 in Memphis, Tennessee. It's so important to have heroes like Dr. King. After all the obstacles he came up against, all the resistance, all the threats, he stood strong. On what would be his last night, when he was feeling too ill to speak, he still came up to that microphone to do what he did best. He strengthened others through his words. He gave them power. He was fearless so they could be fearless.
Last week the ALSC announced the big kidlit awards for 2009. I was so excited to hear that two of my favorite books of the year received Newbery Awards!
Rebecca Stead's mysterious novel When You Reach Me won the Newbery title and Phillip Hoose's enlightening book Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice won a Newbery Honor. (If you missed my previous posts raving about the titles, you can find them here and here.)
If you haven't picked these books up yet, I guess now you have another reason. Hooray!
To see the rest of the winners, as well as the winners of the Caldecott, Corretta Scott King, and Printz Awards, please visit the ALSC.
Phillip Hoose’s Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice (FSG/Kroupa), the story of the almost forgotten black teenage girl who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing, won the award for Young People's Literature. Hoose called winning the award “unreal” and said that Colvin “took a chance on me. She had never heard of me and was about to be forgotten by history and we saved her story.”
On Wednesday, the National Book Awards will be announced, and this year I'm crossing my fingers for a fabulous book in the "Young Peoples Literature" category by Phillip Hoose, who just happens to be from Maine! (And if you stop by Cynthia Lord's blog, you can read the story of how I unexpectedly got to get up on stage and sing with him last night.)
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice is the true story of a 15 year old girl who refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger nine months before Rosa Parks made her historic protest. Claudette Colvin was jailed, ostracized from her classmates, shunned by her community, and yet she persevered. She fought her charges in court (and lost), and later went on to be a key witness in the court case that outlawed segregation on buses and ended the Montgomery bus boycott. She is a truly inspiring unsung hero.
Phil Hoose's book is written partly in the voice of Claudette Colvin, gleaned from hours of personal interviews. She describes exactly what it felt like to hear the jail cell click shut, and to look out from the witness stand in the middle of her trial. Hoose fills in historical details about the Montgomery bus boycott and the events that led up to the trial. It's a fascinating, gripping book that sheds new light on the civil rights movement in Montgomery. A must read.
Here is a video where you can hear some of the story in Colvin's own words. Whether this book wins a National Book Award, I hope it continues to receive recognition and acclaim for many years to come.
Last week the ALSC announced the big kidlit awards for 2009. I was so excited to hear that two of my favorite books of the year received Newbery Awards!
If you haven't picked these books up yet, I guess now you have another
reason. Hooray!
They won, they won! Hip hip hooray!
On Wednesday, the National Book Awards will be announced, and this year I'm crossing my fingers for a fabulous book in the "Young Peoples Literature" category by Phillip Hoose, who just happens to be from Maine! (And if you stop by Cynthia Lord's blog, you can read the story of how I unexpectedly got to get up on stage and sing with him last night.)
