Book Sharing Monday

Although this book was one we just recently became aware of--yes, yet another find at the library (smile), we've been learning about the Freedom Riders and Freedom Rides for a while now. I participated in the screening of the documentary film Freedom Riders: Could You Get On the Bus? by Stanley Nelson.

After watching it I looked for further age-appropriate resources to use with my children. When we went to the Center for Civil and Human Rights just a few weeks ago, that particular exhibit really struck me. All those faces plastered to the remains of a chard bus--that grabbed my attention (among other things). You can read more about our visit here.

When we found this book we knew we had to read it.  This is the book we're sharing with you today:

Breach of Peace: Portraits of the 1961 Mississippi Freedom Riders

by Eric Etheridge

The book is laid out by rides. Each section begins with a date in the summer of 1961, lists the cities the buses originated in and where they headed. Then shows the all the mugshots of the students/people who were arrested on that particular ride.  

Each section then features a few of those riders showing us a photo of them now along with their mugshot. Information is share about who they were in 1961 and a quote or two about why they believed in what they were doing. The second part tells a little about their lives today--what they're involved in presently.

Pauline Knight-Ofosu

Price Chatham

Frank Griffin

Margaret Leonard 

Catherine Burks-Brooks

John Lewis

Jean Thompson

At the end of the book there are extended interviews with some of the featured riders giving more details about their experiences--first hand accounts of the rides and what was happening to them and the people in Mississippi.  If ever you are looking for a primary source, this is definitely a good one.

If you have younger children and are not yet ready to share on the specifics this is still a good book to use as simply a picture book. My younger daughter enjoyed just looking at the photos and seeing who looked similar to what they did as a younger person. We could definitely see the resemblance in many faces. There were others that we could tell have had a rather hard life since then. A few look nothing like they did.

What books are you reading today? Care to share? We'd love to get a book recommendation from you.

Happy Reading!

Be well.