Back of the Bus

     

 Reynolds, A., & Cooper, F. (2010). Back of the bus. New York: Philomel Books.

     Have you ever wondered what it was like for kids during the civil rights movement? Imagine riding on the very bus with Rosa Parks on the day she decided she was not going to give up her seat to a white gentleman because she was too exhausted and tired of being mistreated. I bet the main character in Aaron Reynolds’, “Back of the bus” didn’t realize the importance of what he witnessed on that cold winter morning in Montgomery, Alabama.  He couldn’t have predicted that the lady who rolled his marble back to him would leave such a legacy behind. When the bus stopped longer than usual he knew something was going on. Why would Mrs. Parks sit in the front of the bus?

“She don’t belong up front like that, and them folks all know it. But she’s sittin’ right there, her eyes all fierce like a lightnin’ storm, like maybe she does belong up there,” He thought to himself.

     You won’t believe what happened to Mrs. Parks next. How did the little boy with the marble know that this event wouldn't be forgotten? What does his marble symbolize? You have to read, “Back of the bus” to see just exactly what the boy with the marble witnessed on December 1, 1955, a day that changed the nation.