They all were leaning in and listening, and asked questions about whether anyone really paid attention to all that sorting of people - did anyone really care if someone used the wrong bathroom or waterfountain? Interestingly one comment was along the lines of who would pay attention if a white person used a colored person's water fountain? Was there a policeman at every spot? Who put bus drivers in charge of yelling at people? On one hand this made me feel good about this group. Rosa is one of my heroes and so when the book popped up available in Libby, I grabbed it! One never knows what stories children have heard or haven't, or often or not at all. This book was an opportunity to revisit the story of Rosa Parks and get it in front of my eager listening league. Nonfiction is a hard sell to my nephew at the moment. The nephew gave this 2 stars and the niece gave them 3 stars. My brother talked to her the next day about it. The niece didn’t think it was boring, but she had a hard time understanding the reason it needs a story. Yet, the nephew thought the story was somewhat boring. The niece did think Rosa was brave and the nephew did too. In their world, thank goodness, they just can’t understand what is going on here. The kids were mystified at why this was such an issue. The important part is Rosa Parks decided to sit down on purpose. My brother is a social worker who has studied civil rights extensively, so I tend to trust him on this. Honestly, I don’t know which source to believe. This book is saying that it was not premeditated. The one bit of confusion that I have is I have heard from many sources that Rosa had been practicing her resistance and how to handle the situation and what to do. A wonderfully told story about the day Rosa Parks didn’t give up her seat on the bus and the movement that it started.

Rosa by nikki giovanni