The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Adapted for Young People

Gr 6 Up--The name Rosa Parks conjures images of her most famous act of defiance: refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus in Montgomery, AL. Readers will see a pattern of rebellion that started when Parks was a young girl and never really ended until her death in 2005. She fought for the rights of Black people, especially Black women, for over 60 years. Parks was one of the few women who held an office in the NAACP. She marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and she attended the rallies of Malcolm X. The act of protest on the bus, which led to a 381-day bus boycott and the eventual desegregation of public transportation, is only one example of her activism. The full story is more traumatic and heartrending than the textbook portrayal of a tired seamstress who refused to give up her seat. Parks and her family endured criticism, threatening phone calls, and police brutality. After the bus incident, she and her husband were fired from their jobs, which led to their eventual move to Detroit. As much as some readers want to believe racism was exclusive to the Southern states, both Parks and her husband experienced bigotry during their time in Michigan. Parks was often overlooked as a leader during her own time because she was a Black woman. Theoharis and Colbert provide a thorough tome for those who truly want to understand Parks's life. The familiar version most people encounter does not paint an accurate picture of Park's hopes, dreams, struggles, heartbreaks, and successes. The writing style flows seamlessly, drawing readers into the narrative. The addition of journal entries in Park's own handwriting and photos lend to the authenticity of the stories. VERDICT Recommended for all middle grade and YA collections.--Jeni Tahaney, Summit H.S., Manfield, TX

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

"A nuanced exploration of a woman with a lifelong commitment to social change."
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"Assign this book in the high school curriculum. Organize a Black Lives Matter teen book club to discuss this book. Give this book as a gift to the young person in your life. Now, perhaps more than ever, we need the real story of Rosa Parks."
—Melissa Harris-Perry

"A must-read for young people."
—Bryan Stevenson, author of Just Mercy

"To truly honor Mrs. Rosa Parks is to set the record straight. She was not an accidental heroine or just a tired old lady; she was a lifelong rebellious freedom fighter in every sense of the word. Theoharis has captured the beauty and complexity of Mrs. Parks's life. Deeply researched and engaging, this rich chronicle of Mrs. Parks's life is a page-turner for adults and youth alike. Theoharis and Colbert have told Mrs. Parks's life with so much love, care, and truth telling. Bravo!"
—Bettina L. Love, author of We Want to Do More Than Survive: Abolitionist Teaching and the Pursuit of Educational Freedom

"Rosa Parks is one of the few people that young people often get to learn about from the civil rights movement—and yet the story they learn usually obscures the most valuable lessons of her life. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks is the most effective tool I have ever used to deepen my students' understanding of her life—the real Rosa Parks was a racial justice activist in the North and the South; an organizer against lynching and sexual assault; a mentor who empowered young people to become change makers. My students couldn't put the book down because with every page they realized that the traditional story they had been taught about her life wasn't true—and that the real story was so much more captivating, energizing, and instructive for how to challenge racial and social injustice. No secondary American history course is complete without this book."
—Jesse Hagopian, high school Ethnic studies teacher and co-editor of Black Lives Matter at School: An Uprising for Educational Justice

"Mrs. Parks's 'rebellious' life always challenged inequality and injustice, even before she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus in 1955. This revealing life story introduces readers to a woman whose courage and vision we can all emulate. Above all else, Mrs. Parks believed that young people would carry the civil rights movement forward, and Theoharis and Colbert show how to do just that through a thrillingly vivid account of how one woman learned to do her part to change the world."
—Martha S. Jones, author of Vanguard: How Black Women Broke Barriers, Won the Vote, and Insisted on Equality for All

"In a moving work that documents Rosa Parks's misunderstood role within the civil rights movement, Theoharis and Colbert bring the fast moving dynamism of the movement's history to life. The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks rescues Rosa Parks from the mythologies of civil rights lore by instead situating her within the long twentieth-century Black Freedom struggle, both North and South, as an activist and an organizer. Highly accessible and eminently readable, this book is retooling with the next generation of would-be activists with the politics and history that can help them forge new paths in the ongoing struggle to make Black lives matter."
—Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, author of From #BlackLivesMatter to Black Liberation

"Finally, a book about the real Rosa Parks—the Rosa Parks who was a lifelong activist, a tireless organizer, and who did so much more than refuse to give up her seat on that bus in Montgomery, Alabama. In story after story, Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert breathe life into the rebellious Mrs. Rosa Parks, a fighter for justice who will intrigue and inspire young people. And for all of us who want to teach honestly about Rosa Parks and the civil rights movement, this is an essential resource."
—Bill Bigelow, curriculum editor, Rethinking Schools, and co-director, Zinn Education Project

"The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks offers young readers a detailed exploration of an iconic freedom fighter. In clear and moving prose, Theoharis and Colbert reintroduce a woman who spent the majority of her life fighting on behalf of Black people and women. Young readers will learn that while Rosa Parks is most widely known for her courage connected to the Montgomery bus boycott, her story really represents a lifetime of fierce commitment to social justice."
—Erica Armstrong Dunbar, author of Never Caught: The Story of Ona Judge