A thorough and impassioned account of the Selma to Montgomery march for voting rights from Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman.1965. Selma, Alabama. The Edmund Pettus Bridge.
This is the story of Bloody Sunday and the moments leading up to and after this fateful day in the fight for African American voting rights.
Across the segregated South, African Americans were denied the most fundamental right in a democracy—the right to vote. Tired of reprisals for attempting to register to vote, Selma's Black community began to protest. A march was planned for people, young and old, to march from Selma to Montgomery for voting rights.
But the march quickly became the site of horrific struggle as law officers brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators. When vivid footage and photographs of the violence was broadcast throughout the world, it attracted outrage and spurred demonstrators to complete the march at any cost.
Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman has written a riveting account of this monumental event in the fight for civil rights. Illustrated with more than forty archival photographs, this is an essential chronicle of events every young person should know.
ALA Notable Children's Book
California Reading Association, Eureka! Nonfiction Children's Honor Book
ILA Teachers' Choices
A Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year
A Booklist Editors' Choice
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
A Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Best Book
NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People
Paterson Prize for Books for Young People Honor Book
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
The struggle for voting rights was a pivotal event in the history of civil rights.
For the fiftieth anniversary of the march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, Newbery Medalist Russell Freedman has written a riveting account of African-American struggles for the right to vote.
In the early 1960s, tensions in the segrated South intensified. Tired of reprisals for attempting to register to vote, Selma's black community began to protest. In January 1965, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led a voting rights march and was attacked by a segregationist. In February, the shooting of an unarmed demonstrator by an Alabama state trooper inspired a march from Selma to the state capital. The event got off to a horrific start on March 7 as law officers brutally attacked peaceful demonstrators. But when vivid footage and photographs of the violence was broadcast throughout the world, the incident attracted widespread outrage and spurred demonstrators to complete the march at any cost.
Illustrated with more than forty archival photographs, this is an essential chronicle of events every American should know.
A Kirkus Best Book of the Year
A Junior Library Guild Selection
* "Richly illustrated, this deserves a place alongside other important depictions of this story." —
Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review * "Commemorating the upcoming 50th anniversary of the 1965 march for voting rights from Selma to Montgomery, Freedman delivers a thorough account of the context and events leading up to and through this momentous protest....The momentum-building narrative and often-graphic b&w photos captivate as they recount demonstrations big and small: from sit-ins and 'wade-ins' (for desegregated beaches) to the well-known Selma schoolteachers’ march and 'Bloody Sunday' at the Edmund Pettus Bridge."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
* "The many well-chosen black and white photos record significant events, capture dramatic moments, and show individuals who took part in these historic events. With a timeless narrative and a timely epilogue, this handsome volume offers a vivid account of a pivotal moment in American history."
—Booklist, Starred Review
