Rosa Parks: My Story

by Rosa Parks and James Haskins

Book Overview

Rosa Parks is best known for the day she refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus, sparking the Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott. Yet there is much more to her story than this one act of defiance. In this straightforward, compelling autobiography, Rosa Parks talks candidly about the civil rights movement and her active role in it. Her dedication is inspiring; her story is unforgettable.

"The simplicity and candor of this courageous woman's...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0141301201
• ISBN13: 9780141301204
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.2" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Rosa Parks

As the bus driver asked the blacks in the front of the colored section to stand up most of them stood, Rosa Parks just scooted to a new seat and made an available seat. She said, "No." The driver looked straight at her and said, "Well, I'm going to have you arrested." Then, she calmly said, "You may do that." Rosa Parks was arrested that day of December 1, 1955 and maintained her dignity going through the process of getting arrested and going to jail. She didn't give up her seat because she was tired, she didn't give up her seat because she was tired of giving in. Rosa Parks was born February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She died on October 24, 2005, in Detroit, Michigan. Her book, Rosa Parks: My Story, is very interesting it explained her importance in Civil Rights and other movements. It talks about how there were killings and white people being ostracized of being part of the Civil Rights Movement. She is inspirational and has a very clear mind. This book is for anyone who likes reading about the Civil Rights Movement and the view of black people in the early 1900s. This book recognizes a lot of the Civil Rights Movement being that she was a part of the mistreatment of African-Americans. As said in the first paragraph she didn't give up her bus seat because she was tired of giving in to white people intimidating her and other African-Americans. That and other arrestments started the Montgomery bus boycott. She recognizes the fact a lot that everyone's the same and shouldn't be treated any differently than others. She also says that Dr. Martin Luther King, jr. made a point about not fighting back with violence. When Rosa was young she didn't know what nonviolence really was. All her and her brother knew were to say if someone did something to them they would go right back and do something to them. After Dr. King's speeches' she realized that he believed strongly in nonviolence and listened to Mohandas Gandhi on liberating India from Great Britain. Rosa is and inspiration. She will maintain her dignity in bad times, protest for what she believes in, and is very caring to her family, friends, and society. Rosa has helped a race maintain their dignity and has helped the youth to grow up and try to make a difference in their lives and other's. Rosa has been a national icon when you think of the Civil Rights Movement. Her nickname is the Mother of Civil Rights just for her accomplishments. It wasn't because she didn't give up her seat. It was because she is a strong woman and cares about her friends and family. Rosa Parks died a great person. Even if she got arrested she is still a great person. T. Shepard

An autobiography that should be required reading in American schools

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.

Truth v. Myth

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 now

A Strong Woman

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!

Thank you Mrs. Parks

This great autobiography by "the mother of civil rights" is written with young people in mind, but is enlightening reading for all ages and races. This simply told story at once holds within it the truth of our history and the hopes of our future. Mrs. Parks was a reluctant revolutionary - often the greatest kind - who had nothing more in mind that fateful day than sitting down on the bus when she felt tired - not so much physically tired as tired of giving in to the racism of her time. Her simple act of courage, to say "no," sent waves across this land of ours that are still being heard today. Thank you Mrs. Parks for all you have done. I hope everyone will know your story and continue to do the work you and so many other brave souls began for us.