Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice



Author: Philip Hoose

Awards:  Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Honor
Robert F. Sibert Award Honor

Genre: Non-Fiction

Subject Area: History

Grade Level: Middle School

Themes: The importance of this book is to illustrate the hardships that African Americans had to suffer through because of their differences. They had many privileges taken away from them that we automatically hold today because the color of their skin was different.

Pre-Reading Strategies:

Questions: Class, from what you know using prior knowledge with this subject, and with the main character being African American in this book, how do you think she will be treated by the rest of the white community? How do you think she will respond to the harshness and unfair treatment by the community? Do you think she will respond at all? Will she respond violently like Malcolm X or will she respond in a peaceful manner, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.?

Activity: Since this book is lengthy and a good read, the teacher will go over important vocabulary terms and important concepts before the book is being read. Important concepts such as: Jim Crow Laws, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, etc. will be introduced in detail and why it’s important to learn about before reading this book. The class will also brainstorm ideas of what the main character in the book will do and how she will handle the torment of being an African American during that time period.

Post-Reading Strategies: Post-reading questions

What famous African American can you compare Claudette Colvin to and why? How do you think Claudette Colvin’s act of bravery will influence African American history forever? Why do you think she was not subordinate like most of the other African Americans in moving to the back of the bus?

Assessment: After reading, the students will have an independent activity of what they would have done if they were put in Claudette Colvin’s shoes. They would write about how they would handle the situation and why they would handle it that way. This activity builds creativity and reflects their understanding of reading this challenging, but significant history novel.

Quick Summary: This story is about the civil rights era back in the early to mid 1940’s. African Americans were treated very unfairly and harshly because of the color of their skin. On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, named Claudette Colvin, was fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation. She angrily refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Instead of being celebrated as Rosa Parks would be just nine months later, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin found herself shunned by her classmates and dismissed by community leaders.

Reflection: Excellent story in the point of view of an African American trying to survive during the Civil Rights Movement where African Americans were treated very poorly.

Hoose, Philip M. (2009). Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice. New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux. Grades 6-8.