Rosa by Nikki Giovanni

Giovanni, N. (2005). Rosa. New York, NY: Holt.

When Rosa Parks left work a little early that day in 1955, she had no idea that she would start a revolution and become a civil rights icon.  The supreme court had already ruled that "separate was not equal" but Montgomery, AL was a bit behind the times.  When Mrs. Parks boarded the bus that day she she did as she was "supposed" to.  She entered the back of the bus and sat in the middle section which was the designated section for white or black people.  Upon being told to move by the bus driver, Rosa, fed up with the injustices she had witnessed all her life and knowing she was within her rights, bravely refused to move.  Her arrest lead to a movement by her friends at the Women's Political Council and thousands across the country, including Martin Luther King Jr., as they organized and supported the Montgomery bus boycott and demanded equal rights for all.

Evaluation Criteria: Style

Style is what makes an informational book a work of literature and not just a book of facts. Giovanni has done an impressive job of taking this tough episode in history and presenting it in a simplistic way that children can relate to and understand.  We don’t just see Rosa as a civil rights activist, for that’s not what she set out to be.  She was a seamstress, a daughter, a wife who was tired from a long day’s work and just wanted to get home and make her husband a good dinner and take care of her ill mother.  But she was also a tough lady who was tired of the injustices she saw day after day and had the courage to stand up, or stay seated, against them.  We can feel the author’s passion for Mrs. Parks and the thousands who came together to support her and equal rights for all.

Book Trailer for Rosa