Rosa Parks: My Story [Hardcover]

Rosa Parks (Author), Jim Haskins (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

"The only tired I was, was tired of giving in." These are the simple yet eloquent words of Rosa Parks, who on December 1, 1955, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a segregated bus, sparking the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. Written in her own straightforward and moving language, this is her compelling story.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Many readers of this absorbing autobiography will be familiar with the incident for which Rosa Parks is best known: on December 1, 1955, she refused to surrender her seat to a white person on a Montgomery, Ala.,stet comma/rl city bus. What this book provides is a framework that will enable its audience to put this historic moment into a broader context, and to appreciate the monumental effect on one woman and on an entire nation. Long before Parks's stand against racial segregation, her "very strong sense of what was fair" had provoked her to launch her own personal campaign against injustice. In lively anecdotal style, she describes her early family life and schooling, her run-ins with disdainful white children, her courtship and marriage to Raymond Parks and her active role in the Montgomery NAACP and in the civil rights movement. The simplicity and candor of this courageous woman's voice make these compelling events even more moving and dramatic. Some readers will be stunned by Parks's firsthand accounts of violence against blacks; all will be deeply impressed by her boundless energy and courage. All ages.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-- This well-known story is considerably refreshed by Parks's personal narrative, punctuated by numerous black-and-white photographs. In simple, gracious, compelling language she describes her childhood, family life, and elusive educational opportunities. She explains how her husband encouraged and supported her participation in civil rights activities, and provides with clarity the generally paltry regard for the contributions of black women by the movement's organizers. In this recounting of her life, she corrects some media-created distortions of events. Her references to so many people may overwhelm some readers at times, but this does not diminish the overall impact of a wonderful, warm autobiography.
- Helen E. Williams, formerly at University of Maryland, College Park
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 200 pages
• Publisher: Dial; 1st edition (February 4, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803706731
• ISBN-13: 978-0803706736
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (26 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #794,418 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Strong Woman, June 3, 2002

By 

Amy Chang (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rosa Parks: My Story (Paperback)

Rosa Parks was a Black woman who lived in a time of unequality. Blacks were being treated as though they were lower and were lost of the many priveleges that white people had. Well, Rosa Parks didn't let what they thought get in her way. She stood for what she believed in and stuck by it all the way. By refusing to sit at the end of the bus, Rosa showed me how strong, independent, daring, and brave she was. She knew of the consequences yet it didn't stop her. I really admire her.
This book came across me after my friend Catherine read it and recommended it to me. She told me that it was a good book and that I should read it. She told me that it would touch my heart and would help me see Rosa Parks in a different way. Seeing the cover, I knew that it would talk about one of the most important events of her life-the incident at the bus.
I enjoyed this book very much. My favorite part was when she refused to sit at the back of the bus.She demonstrated acts of bravery and courage. She showed them that she was equal and that no one had the right to treat them differently. That event also proved that small acts can make big differences in the world. One little protest made a positive change in the way of the world. This helped me want to be more active in our world. I realized that the blacks had to go through so much to be where they are today. It helped me appreciate them more. This book should be read by everyone!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth v. Myth, March 30, 2006

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rosa Parks: My Story (Paperback)

When Nikki Giovanni came out with her picture book biography of Rosa Parks ("Rosa") not too long ago, I was incensed by a tribute that I felt fell rather short of a rather admirable person. So when I reviewed that book I pulled out every biography, children's and otherwise, that I could find on Rosa Parks herself. Some of these were misleading, some simplistic, but one was a fine and hearty tribute. Is it any wonder then that that same book, "Rosa Parks: My Story" should have been written by Ms. Parks herself? With some aid from Jim Haskins, this book serves beautifully as the quintessential Rosa Parks story. It crushes myths beneath its heel, gives a great deal of factual information about the time in which she lived, brings to life the danger she faced, and is just about one of the most engaging books ever written by an average citizen. It is heroic without boasting or bragging a jot.

Okay, children. We all know the tale of Rosa Parks, yes? We know that one day she was asked to give up her seat on a bus for a white man and she refused. We know that she was arrested and jailed for this supposed "crime". And we know that this was really the impetus that began the Civil Rights Movement and that Rosa would remain a symbol of the times forevermore. Some of may even think that she was tired and that that was the reason why she didn't move. This little detail is not true in the least, of course. But what else do you know about Ms. Parks? Did you know that at the time that she was arrested, Ms. Parks was a secretary for the NAACP and that her husband was a longtime Civil Right activist? Did you know that she grew up without a father and that she remembered clearly the nights she'd spend next to her grandfather's gun, listening for the Klan? Or that the bus driver that pulled her off and got her arrested was the same man that had thrown her off a bus several years before? Before we start making out heroes out to be superhuman symbols, let's just step back and take a moment to hear what Rosa Parks really felt about her life and times. It turns out that when you remove all the mythos and glamour, what you get is a women who was even more admirable in real life than any story could conjure up.

What I particularly liked about this book were the unexpected details At one point Rosa talks about attending the Montgomery Industrial School when she turned eleven. It was a school run by a faculty of white women. Rosa notes, "That meant that when they came south to educate black girls, they were ostracized by the white community in Montgomery. Any social life they had, had to be with blacks, and therefore they went to black churches and so on". I think you could probably write a pretty interesting work of non-fiction with that as your story right there! Parks, quite rightly, has nothing but great respect for Mr. E.D. Nixon, but she doesn't fail to mention some of his stupider thoughts when it came to women. "Women don't need to be nowhere but in the kitchen", he would say to Rosa (his secretary at the time). Rosa later explains that, "Nowadays, women wouldn't stand for being kept so much in the background, but back then women's rights hadn't become a popular cause yet". I guess that all depends on how you want to categorize "women's rights". But that's what I enjoyed about the book. Not only does Ms. Parks set the record straight about the history and the times she grew up in, she's just as willing to show that Civil Rights activists, for all their heroism, were not flawless saints. And that doesn't make them any less admirable.

When kids come up to my Reference Desk and ask me to recommend a good autobiography, I'll be in a difficult position. On the one hand, I'm not overly familiar with a lot of children's biographies. On the other hand, now that I know this one, it will certainly be the first to come to mind anytime someone asks. Should I feel guilty about always falling back onto "Rosa Parks: My Story"? Probably not. A great autobiography, a singular tale, and rousing bit of myth debunking. You want to get the story straight? Come to the source.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An autobiography that should be required reading in American schools, June 26, 2006

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Story (Rosa Parks) (Paperback)

If there is a single autobiography that should be read by all American children as they go through school, it is this one. Rosa Parks was the person who lit the spark that ignited the civil rights movement in the United States that led to so much positive change. Tired after a long day at work, she was riding the bus home. According to law, if a white person wanted her seat, she was forced to give it up. A white man wanted to sit, but she refused to yield. The white driver then ordered her to relinquish the seat and when she again refused, the police were called, which led to her arrest. This action sparked the famous Montgomery bus boycott, which led to a change in the law. Once the civil rights movement started, it could not be stopped, despite ferocious and violent opposition by southern whites.
This story is one of an otherwise unassuming but proud woman who possessed great courage. Her life is one of hardship, trials and eventually great triumph. Young children of today do not understand what life was like in the segregated, racist society of the first half of the twentieth century. This book will help them understand the debt we all owe to the people who sparked, nurtured and led the civil rights movement to the success that it was. It is a very moving and inspiring book.