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A review by labibliobecca
Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom: My Story of the 1965 Selma Voting Rights March by Lynda Blackmon Lowery
4.0
“By the time I was fifteen years old, I had been in jail nine times.”
With an opening line that hits you like a ton of bricks, Lynda Blackmon Lowery describes what it was like to march for voting rights as a young girl. Lowery was the youngest person to march all the way from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, despite the terror she endured shortly beforehand on Bloody Sunday.
I read this all in one go. There’s not much text per page, and there are illustrations and photographs. Lowery’s writing is direct and accessible.
I didn’t know about the so-called “brains”—students who went to school during demonstrations to make up assignments for their marching and/or jailed peers. Lowery also mentions cooking, carpooling, and medical help. She provides an interesting look at the many forms activism can take, and by extension who can embody that identity: in short, anyone, of any race, of any age.
This is a striking memoir for kids, teens, and adults alike, especially as Black History Month approaches. I can see it being assigned in schools alongside the [b:March|17346698|March Book One (March, #1)|John Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360539808l/17346698._SX50_.jpg|24086771] graphic novels.
With an opening line that hits you like a ton of bricks, Lynda Blackmon Lowery describes what it was like to march for voting rights as a young girl. Lowery was the youngest person to march all the way from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, despite the terror she endured shortly beforehand on Bloody Sunday.
I read this all in one go. There’s not much text per page, and there are illustrations and photographs. Lowery’s writing is direct and accessible.
I didn’t know about the so-called “brains”—students who went to school during demonstrations to make up assignments for their marching and/or jailed peers. Lowery also mentions cooking, carpooling, and medical help. She provides an interesting look at the many forms activism can take, and by extension who can embody that identity: in short, anyone, of any race, of any age.
This is a striking memoir for kids, teens, and adults alike, especially as Black History Month approaches. I can see it being assigned in schools alongside the [b:March|17346698|March Book One (March, #1)|John Lewis|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360539808l/17346698._SX50_.jpg|24086771] graphic novels.