Claudette Colvin or Santa Mouse

Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Author: Phillip Hoos

“When it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can’t sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, ‘This is not right.’” – Claudette Colvin

On March 2, 1955, an impassioned teenager, fed up with the daily injustices of Jim Crow segregation, refused to give 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. Undaunted, a year later she dared to challenge segregation again as a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the landmark case that struck down the segregation laws of Montgomery and swept away the legal underpinnings of the Jim Crow South.

Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.

Publishers Weekly

In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks triggered the bus boycott in Montgomery, Ala., by refusing to surrender her seat to a white passenger, a 15-year-old Montgomery girl, Claudette Colvin, let herself be arrested and dragged off the bus for the same reason; in 1956, Colvin was one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, a landmark case in which Montgomery's segregated bus system was declared unconstitutional. Investigating Colvin's actions, asking why Rosa Parks's role has overshadowed Colvin's, Hoose (We Were There, Too! Young People in U.S. History) introduces readers to a resolute and courageous teenager and explores the politics of the NAACP and bus-boycott leadership. Because Colvin had been tearful in the period following her 1955 conviction, when her classmates shunned her, she was deemed too "emotional" to place at the center of the bus boycott; by the time Parks assumed that position, Colvin was disgraced: pregnant but not married. Hoose's evenhanded account investigates Colvin's motives and influences, and carefully establishes the historical context so that readers can appreciate both Colvin's maturity and bravery and the boycott leadership's pragmatism. Illus. with b&w photos. Ages 10-up. (Feb.)

VOYA

Nearly a year before Rosa Parks famously refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery public bus, fifteen-year-old African American student Claudette Colvin was the first to be arrested for that brand of civil disobedience in the Alabama city. This book offers a glimpse at a long-overlooked figure in the civil rights movement, who is now credited with being an important factor in sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Colvin faced a court hearing and became pregnant shortly after her arrest. Local activists felt that she was not the right "face" for the cause, and she was generally forgotten in accounts of the civil rights movement for nearly fifty years. Hoose provides an in-depth account of her life, both during the civil rights movement and in the years afterward. This story of Colvin's contributions to the civil rights movement is enhanced by first-person accounts, interviews, primary sources, and well-captioned illustrations. Potentially unfamiliar terms and concepts are explained within the text or in clear and unobtrusive sidebars. Of special interest is the exploration of the importance of perceived cultural, social, and physical appearance in the search for a public face for the legal battles of the civil rights movement in Montgomery and nationwide. This fresh look at a well-documented period in American history will appeal to readers from young teens to adults. Reviewer: Sherrie Williams

School Library Journal

Gr 6 Up

In Montgomery, AL, in March 1955, 15-year-old Colvin refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was arrested, and although she received some help from local civil rights leaders, they decided that the sometimes-volatile teen was not suitable to be the public face of a mass protest. Later that year, Rosa Parks sparked the famous bus boycott. Colvin was left with a police record and soon faced the additional problems of an unwed pregnancy and expulsion from school. In spite of those troubles, she consented to be named as a plaintiff in the court case that eventually integrated Montgomery's buses. Thus Colvin played a central role in the city's civil rights drama, but her story has been largely lost to history. Hoose, who had been curious about the often-unidentified teen who first defied bus segregation, persuaded her to tell her story. His book puts Colvin back into the historical record, combining her reminiscences with narrative about her life and the tumultuous events of the boycott. He includes background about segregated Montgomery and places Colvin's story into the context of the larger Civil Rights Movement. The text is supplemented with black-and-white photos, reproductions of period newspapers and documents, and sidebars. While virtually all students know Rosa Parks's story, this well-written and engaging book will introduce them to a teen who also fought for racial justice and give them a new perspective on the era, making it an outstanding choice for most collections.-Mary Mueller, Rolla Junior High School, MO

Kirkus Reviews

Claudette Colvin's story will be new to most readers. A teenager in the 1950s, Colvin was the first African-American to refuse to give up her seat on the bus in Montgomery, Ala. Although she later participated with four other women in the court case that effectively ended segregated bus service, it is Rosa Parks's action that became the celebrated event of the bus boycott. Hoose's frank examination of Colvin's life includes sizable passages in her own words, allowing readers to learn about the events of the time from a unique and personal perspective. The sequence of events unfolds clearly, with its large cast of characters distinctly delineated. Period photographs and reprints of newspaper articles effectively evoke the tenor of the times. Both Colvin and the author speculate that it was Colvin's unplanned (and unwed) pregnancy that prevented her from being embraced as the face of the Civil Rights movement. Her commitment to combating injustice, however, was unaffected, and she remains an inspiring figure whom contemporary readers will be pleased to discover. (notes, bibliography, index) (Biography. 12 & up)

Book review: Handbook of Work and Health Psychology or Technical Managers Handbook

Santa Mouse

Author: Michael Brown

Find out how giving is the best gift of all in this eternally charming Christmas story about a very lonely mouse with a very big imagination - and an even bigger heart.

Adorable illustrations by Elfrieda De Witt bring Michael Brown's timeless classic to rich, colorful life.

Syren or The Graveyard Book

Syren (Septimus Heap Series #5)

Author: Angie Sag

In this fifth book in the Magykal series, Septimus ends up on a captivatingly beautiful island, one of seven set in a sparkling sea. He's stranded there with his badly injured dragon, Spit Fyre, along with Jenna and Beetle. There are some strange things about the island, including a Magykal girl named Syrah, a cat-shaped lighthouse that has lost its Light, and an eerie presence that sings to Septimus—can he escape the persistent call?

Trouble is also brewing for Lucy and Wolf Boy, who have become entangled with some nefarious sailors at sea, and for Milo Banda, Jenna's father, who is harboring a mysterious treasure chest in his ship's hold.

Charismatic storyteller Angie Sage continues Septimus Heap's Magykal journey with more laugh-out-loud adventures, more enchanting charms and spells, and an ever-deepening understanding of the interior life of a young hero.

School Library Journal

Gr 4–9—Septimus Heap returns triumphantly to the Castle and Wizard Tower, the only Apprentice ever to return alive from a Queste, let alone to complete one. Marcia Overstrand, ExtraOrdinary Wizard, then makes him a very young Senior Apprentice. With his new freedoms, Septimus sets out on his dragon, Spit Fire, to retrieve his brother Nicko and friends Snorri, Princess Jenna, and Beetle, whom he promised to return safely to the Castle. When leaving on this rescue mission, though, Septimus does not receive a Live SafeCharm from his Aunt Zelda, and a chain reaction of unfortunate events besiege him and his companions. Many small plotlines are introduced, but they converge clearly in Septimus's challenge on the Islands of Syren. Unlike the two previous books, which could be a little confusing, Syren is Sage at her best: it's full of fun, adventure, humor, irony, friendship, loyalty, and nonstop action. In spite of its length, fans of the series will tear through this book and come out eagerly anticipating the next installment.—Jessica Miller, New Britain Public Library, CT

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The Graveyard Book

Author: Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy. He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead. There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy. But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family . . . Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, The Graveyard Book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

The New York Times - Monica Edinger

The Graveyard Book, by turns exciting and witty, sinister and tender, shows Gaiman at the top of his form…The story's language and humor are sophisticated, but Gaiman respects his readers and trusts them to understand…In this novel of wonder, Neil Gaiman follows in the footsteps of long-ago storytellers, weaving a tale of unforgettable enchantment.

The Washington Post - Mary Quattlebaum

The book's power lies in Gaiman's ability to bring to quirky life (pun intended) the graveyard's many denizens, including a protective vampire and a feisty medieval witch. Like a bite of dark Halloween chocolate, this novel proves rich, bittersweet and very satisfying.

Publishers Weekly

A lavish middle-grade novel, Gaiman's first since Coraline, this gothic fantasy almost lives up to its extravagant advance billing. The opening is enthralling: "There was a hand in the darkness, and it held a knife." Evading the murderer who kills the rest of his family, a child roughly 18 months old climbs out of his crib, bumps his bottom down a steep stairway, walks out the open door and crosses the street into the cemetery opposite, where ghosts take him in. What mystery/horror/suspense reader could stop here, especially with Gaiman's talent for storytelling? The author riffs on the Jungle Book, folklore, nursery rhymes and history; he tosses in werewolves and hints at vampires-and he makes these figures seem like metaphors for transitions in childhood and youth. As the boy, called Nobody or Bod, grows up, the killer still stalking him, there are slack moments and some repetition-not enough to spoil a reader's pleasure, but noticeable all the same. When the chilling moments do come, they are as genuinely frightening as only Gaiman can make them, and redeem any shortcomings. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)

Children's Literature

Gaiman, famous for his creepy and often scary tales, Coraline and The Wolves in the Wall, has created in his new novel something that is neither creepy nor scary, despite its chilling first chapter and spectral cast of characters. This is a story about the power of family—whatever form it takes—and the potential of a child who is raised with love and a sense of duty. Nobody Owens (Bod) is adopted by a couple of ghosts after narrowly escaping death at the hands of the mysterious man who murdered the rest of his family. After much debate, he is granted the "Freedom of the Graveyard" by its long dead inhabitants. His guardian, Silas, who is neither dead nor alive, brings him food and ensures he is educated in the ways of the dead and the living. Of course, life for young Owens is not all smooth sailing. Bod must face the ghoul gate, the ancient force that waits in the oldest grave, and the mysterious man who still searches for the boy he failed to kill. The story of an orphaned boy being hunted down by a secret society and protected by magic sounds familiar, but while the story of Harry Potter resonates here, the sympathetic, flawed, and ultimately very human character of Bod saves this from being merely a reshaping of Rowling's epic tale. In fact, Gaiman's title is an homage to Kipling's The Jungle Book. I cannot help thinking, however, that this novel should be the first in a series. There are too many questions unanswered. While I never really believed that Bod was ever in any real danger in the graveyard, a boy who sets off in to the world of the living with his "eyes and heart wide open" can only be headed for uncertainty. Reviewer: Nicola Turner

VOYA

An assassin creeps upstairs to murder the only survivor of a slaughtered family. But the baby boy is gone. Innocently he has climbed from his crib, bottom-bumped downstairs, and headed outside, before toddling into a nearby graveyard. There ghostly Mrs. Owens, who has always longed for a child, realizes his danger and determines to adopt him. A lively debate erupts among the graveyard ghosts. Mrs. Owens finally gets her way after Silas, a mysterious visitor in the graveyard, volunteers to be his guardian and to bring him food. The baby, formally named Nobody Owens, is voted the freedom of the graveyard and there he thrives, loved and cared for. The freedom of the graveyard bestows ghostly talents, and Bod is taught useful skills like Fading and Haunting. But beyond his safe home there is danger. Bod stumbles into frightening adventures in this world and another, and Silas faces death fighting an ancient Fraternal Order determined to kill the boy. Gaiman writes with charm and humor, and again he has a real winner. Readers quickly begin to care about Bod and the graveyard residents. Bod's encounter with the ghouls is brilliantly inventive. Miss Lupsecu, his substitute guardian while Silas is away, is dry-as-dust strict, a bad cook, and a friend to the death. The conclusion is satisfying, but it leaves room for a sequel. Everyone who reads this book will hope fervently that the very busy author gets around to writing one soon. Reviewer: Rayna Patton

KLIATT

It takes a graveyard to raise a child in this engaging horror/fantasy tale by the author of Coraline. A man named Jack is dispatched to kill a family, but the toddler manages to escape, finding refuge in a graveyard where the ghosts decide to take him in. His guardian is a vampire, his occasional teacher a werewolf, and his friend a witch, but the ancient graveyard is a safe, loving haven for the child they call Nobody Owens: "Bod," for short. He learns the knack of Fading and Haunting to escape detection and frighten adversaries, skills that come in handy when Bod grows older and makes forays out of the graveyard, encountering ghouls in their frightening land and bullies at school. Eventually Bod confronts Jack once again, and he must draw on ancient forces to defeat his old enemy. Gaiman has a true gift for narrative and a delightfully light touch, and there are humorous details along with spine-chilling ones. YAs will race through this fine tale and enjoy every magical, creepy moment. Illustrations not seen. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8

Somewhere in contemporary Britain, "the man Jack" uses his razor-sharp knife to murder a family, but the youngest, a toddler, slips away. The boy ends up in a graveyard, where the ghostly inhabitants adopt him to keep him safe. Nobody Owens, so named because he "looks like nobody but himself," grows up among a multigenerational cast of characters from different historical periods that includes matronly Mistress Owens; ancient Roman Caius Pompeius; an opinionated young witch; a melodramatic hack poet; and Bod's beloved mentor and guardian, Silas, who is neither living nor dead and has secrets of his own. As he grows up, Bod has a series of adventures, both in and out of the graveyard, and the threat of the man Jack who continues to hunt for him is ever present. Bod's love for his graveyard family and vice versa provide the emotional center, amid suspense, spot-on humor, and delightful scene-setting. The child Bod's behavior is occasionally too precocious to be believed, and a series of puns on the name Jack render the villain a bit less frightening than he should be, though only momentarily. Aside from these small flaws, however, Gaiman has created a rich, surprising, and sometimes disturbing tale of dreams, ghouls, murderers, trickery, and family.-Megan Honig, New York Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

Wistful, witty, wise-and creepy. Gaiman's riff on Kipling's Mowgli stories never falters, from the truly spine-tingling opening, in which a toddler accidentally escapes his family's murderer, to the melancholy, life-affirming ending. Bod (short for Nobody) finds solace and safety with the inhabitants of the local graveyard, who grant him some of the privileges and powers of the dead-he can Fade and Dreamwalk, for instance, but still needs to eat and breathe. Episodic chapters tell miniature gems of stories (one has been nominated for a Locus Award) tracing Bod's growth from a spoiled boy who runs away with the ghouls to a young man for whom the metaphor of setting out into the world becomes achingly real. Childhood fears take solid shape in the nursery-rhyme-inspired villains, while heroism is its own, often bitter, reward. Closer in tone to American Gods than to Coraline, but permeated with Bod's innocence, this needs to be read by anyone who is or has ever been a child. (Illustrations not seen.) (Fantasy. 10 & up)

Tear up This Book or Can You See What I See The Night Before Christmas

Tear up This Book!: The Sticker, Stencil, Stationery, Games, Crafts, Doodle, and Journal Book for Girls! (American Girl Library Series)

Author: Keri Smith

Discover dozens of fun ways to be creative with this book packed with projects! With special punch-out pages, you can make a cootie catcher, bingo boards, a gift box, a secret note dispenser, a micro mobile, and so much more. This book also offers lots of games, crafts, journal-writing activities, and sticker fun to share with friends and family, or to do on your own.

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Can You See What I See? The Night Before Christmas: Picture Puzzles to Search and Solve

Author: Wick

The first photograph, "The Night Before Christmas," features a gingerbread house, Christmas cookies, candles, bulbs, and more. "Visions of Sugarplums" is an abstract composition of Christmas confections; and "Such a Clatter! " is a dynamic explosion of objects. In "It Must Be Saint Nick," Santa is shown in shadow; and in "A Bundle of Toys," the presents in Santa's sack are revealed as a magnificent jumble. The final photograph, "Happy Christmas to All" is a beautiful, pastoral landscape, lustrous under new-fallen snow. The original poem is printed on the endpapers.

Publishers Weekly

A trio of holiday books helps readers get in the spirit (see Children's Reviews, Sept. 26 for more titles). Walter Wick applies his considerable photographic and choreographic talents to the Yuletide-themed addition to his paper-over-board Can You See What I See? series, The Night Before Christmas. Endpapers reprint Moore's famous poem, which kicks off photographic puzzles called "Visions of Sugarplums," featuring a dazzling shower of gingerbread cookies, gumdrops, candy canes and more, and "A Bundle of Toys" that will have alert young eyes scouring Santa's sack for goodies.

Sharon Salluzzo - Children's Literature

Taking inspiration from the classic poem by Clement C. Moore, Wick— photographer of the "I Spy" books—has created scenes in which the reader is given a list of items to find. The title of the list for each spread is a phrase taken from Moore's poem. Much creativity has gone into the composition of each scene. In "New Fallen Snow" the objects are displayed on a white quilt with a Christmas snow globe in the center. The page of "visions of sugarplums" has gingerbread men and women and other cutout cookies, candy canes, ribbon candy and assorted sweets that appear to be floating in air. There is a rhythm and some rhyming to the list of items. Some objects are easy to find, others more difficult. The photographs of the toys and Christmas decorations are clear and eye-catching. Astute viewers might even find a toy just like one of their own. Fans of the "I Spy" books will be happy to spend Christmas afternoon with this book. 2005, Scholastic, Ages 4 to 9.

Kirkus Reviews

The co-creator of the "I Spy" series uses a similar format in this holiday offering full of glowing photographs of tiny toys and sweet treats. As in previous volumes, readers can search each spread for the miniature items craftily hidden within, enumerated in rhyming lists in large type next to each photograph. Wick uses phrases from the familiar lines of "A Visit from Saint Nicholas" as an organizational framework for his lush photos of a cozy house on Christmas Eve all decked out for Santa's arrival. (He includes the poem on the endpapers.) Some spreads focus on one area of the house and others on single images from the poem, such as a whirlwind of sugarplums or an open bundle of toys. Eagle-eyed readers will spot additional clever details such as a recurring white dove and the gabled house in a snow globe that duplicates the home featured throughout. This volume covers much of the same holiday territory as I Spy Christmas by Marzollo and Wick (1992), but fans of this sort of picture puzzle will welcome another challenging Christmas brainteaser. (author's note) (Picture book. 3-7)