MargaretBolingMullin

1/2/13 ** I was fortunate to purchase this book at Cincinnati's Books by the Banks celebration in October 2012, and was able to have it signed by both the author and illustrator.

As I was shelving this, I nearly put "biography," rather than "informational," since it begins with Rosa Parks' fateful bus ride home from work. However, what I was most struck by in reading this book is the way that it depicts the perseverance and dedication of over 40,000 Montgomery residents. Some of our biographies depict the HERO as someone with more than a usual amount of courage or fortitude. This book dispels the notion that the bus boycott was all about one person.

I also enjoyed this book from a writing standpoint. The notion of Jim Crow is "personified" (loosely speaking) as a black crow that peck, peck, pecks the narrator throughout the tale. As will all B. Pinkney's illustrations, there is a powerful sense of movement - of wind, feet, vehicles - on every page.