The publisher synopsis:

Marian Anderson loved to sing.  Her deep, rich voice thrilled audiences the world over.  By the mid-1930s she was a famed vocalist who had been applauded by European royalty, welcomed at the White House, and adored by appreciative listeners in concert halls across the United States.  But because of her race, she was denied the right to sing at Constitution Hall, Washington’s largest and finest auditorium.

Though Marian Anderson was not a crusader or a spokesperson by nature, her response to this injustice catapulted her into the center of the civil rights movement of the time.  She came to stand for all black artists   and for all Americans of color – when, with the help of prominent figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt, she gave a landmark performance on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that broke racial barriers and hastened the end of segregation in the arts.

Drawing on Anderson’s own writings and other first-person accounts, Newbery medalist Russell Freedman shows readers a singer pursuing her art in the context of the social and political climate of the day.  Profusely illustrated with contemporary photographs, here is an inspiring account of the life of a talented, determined artist who left her mark on musical and social history.

Now, I know ZERO about music.  When I was in elementary school my dance teacher told me to lip synch the words to a song we were singing.  My confidence was thrown out the window at that very moment.  I seriously CAN NOT carry a tune.  I don’t understand notes, octaves, etc, etc, etc (because those are the only two words I can even think of!).  I really do sound awful.  I like to listen to music, I’m a fan, but because I don’t go out of my way to learn about music, I had never even heard of Marian Anderson before.  Reading The Voice That Challenged a Nation was learning something completely new to me.

And I learned a lot!  Although, I must admit, Marian Anderson is a contralto and I went the whole book wishing there was an explanation of what a contralto actually is.  According to Wikipedia, a contralto is “a type of classical female singing voice with a vocal range somewhere between a tenor and a mezzo-soprano.”  Still no clue what that’s supposed to mean but it goes on to say “the term is used to refer to the deepest female singing voice.”  Okay, that I can latch onto.

Marian Anderson was beautiful!  And she had a beautiful voice.  Her community was especially supportive in raising funds for her education and her career.  I was particularly struck with the fact that she literally traveled all over the world to many foreign countries and sung in prestigious halls and for heads of countries.  But it was in her own country, the United States, that she was denied the privileges that should have been afforded her.  Barred from music halls, singing in front of segregated audiences, and traveling through the deep south catapulted Anderson to a postion that she never thought she would be in and that was to make a difference in the civil rights movement.  By her example and actions, she led the way for all the artists who would come behind her.

The Voice That Challenged a Nation was well laid out,  had great photos, and great stories.   I enjoyed learning Marian’s story and was grateful that I took the time out to do so.  I only wished that the pages of the book would sing to me!  Highly recommended.

Marian Anderson singing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in response to being denied entrance at Constitution Hall:

A book well worth checking out.

Voice that Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month.  Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.  Also reviewed this month: Letters from a Slave Girl, The Story of Harriet Jacobs by Mary E. Lyons, The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox,  Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grime, The Well by Mildred D. Taylor,  Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman, Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and  Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson.  Other reviews of interest:  A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg, Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Links of interest:  Visit the Marian Anderson Historical Society.  More book blogger reviews.
Genre:  Juvenile Non-fiction, approx age 9-12 (although this adult loved it).
Publisher:  Clarion Books.  May 25, 2004.
Hardcover, 128 pages.  ISBN:  0618159762
The Voice that Challenged a Nation is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Six-year-old Ruby Bridges is the first black child to attend an all white elementary school during the civil rights movement and of desegregation in New Orleans in 1960.   The Story of Ruby Bridges recounts Ruby’s move from Mississippi to New Orleans at a very young age, their hard working family, and their faith in God.  It explains that at the time black children and white children went to separate schools which was against the law.  A judge ordered the schools to be desegregated and Ruby was one of the first chosen to make this happen.

Angry crowds gathered for her first day of school, pulled their own children out of class, and continued to do so for months.  Ruby was all alone in school.  Her teacher Miss Hurley recounts that Ruby was a wonderful child, eager to learn, but also lonely.  The book ends with Ruby uttering a prayer among the crowd which was:

Please, God, try to forgive those people.
Because even if they say those bad things,
They don’t know what they’re doing.
So You could forgive them,
Just like You did those folks a long time ago
When they said terrible things about You.

There seemed to be a few discrepancies between Through My Eyes, written by Ruby Bridges herself and this one, The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles (who was her psychiatrist during this time).  In Through My Eyes, it came across as Ruby being much more ignorant of what was happening.  She didn’t know why she was going to a new school, she didn’t know why the crowds were there at all.  She also drove to school with the federal marshals each day.  In this book, she is shown as walking to school.  I know, I know.  It doesn’t much matter.

I liked the illustrations by George Ford with the exception of his rendering of Miss Hurley, Ruby’s teacher.  She looks to be African-American but she’s really white.  It’s very unclear in the book which she’s supposed to be and I think it’s important to note that she was a white teacher who cared very deeply for the education of Ruby, especially at a time when many others were unwilling to take the job.

Overall, this book was very informative and is an excellent resource for younger readers.  Since writing my review of Through My Eyes I have rented the Disney movie Ruby Bridges and enjoyed it very much.  I would recommend pairing both Through My Eyes and The Story of Ruby Bridges with the movie.

Ruby Bridge’s website.

The Story of Ruby Bridges is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month.  Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.  Also reviewed this month: The Slave Dancer by Paula Fox,  Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grime, The Well by Mildred D. Taylor,  Freedom Walkers, The Story of the Montgomery Bus Boycott by Russell Freedman, Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and  Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson.  Other reviews of interest:  A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg, Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Freedom Walkers is a wonderful introduction of how the 381-day boycott of the Montgomery Bus system spearheaded the civil rights movement.  Did you know that Rosa Parks was not the first woman to refuse to give up her seat to a white on the bus?  It’s just that she was the first perfect person who would look really, really great in court.  Did you know that a black individual had to get on the bus, pay their ten cent fare and then get off and go around to the rear entrance?  Sometimes the bus driver would take off leaving them behind.  Did you know that during the boycott, donations poured in from across the globe, enough to purchase more than 30 cars to donate to the carpool, which blacks were using as an alternative to riding the bus?

I also learned that blacks weren’t even asking to desegregate buses.  They simply were asking that the line separating blacks from whites not be fluid, that once seated they could not be asked to move when the whites ran out of seats.  Of course, once the case was taken to the Supreme Court, they won a whole lot more than that, the entire bus was desegregated.   I also learned that prior to the Montgomery Bus boycott Martin Luther King hadn’t played much of a role in community affairs.  He proved himself as a natural born leader who would go on to make great strides during the civil rights movement.

Okay, so I feel as though I’m rambling.  I just wanted to share with you the small insights that I had while reading – so in that case, you should just go read it!   Freedom Walkers was a perfect blend of personal stories, historical fact, and photos to take me back to a time and place that I am in utter disbelief  existed in our country.  I walked away with a heartfelt appreciation  for the men, women and children who stood up for their rights and demanded that they be treated as equals.

Russell Freedom concludes:

Parks’s defiance on that December evening in 1955 set in motion a peaceful revolution that led to the death of Jim Crow segregation in the South and brought black Americans into the nation’s political life.  But the success and true impact of the Montgomery boycott depended on the sacrifices and determination of thousands whose names are lost to history – maids, laborers, teachers, students, cooks, and others – ordinary people who rose above the safe routines of their daily lives to become actors in an historical drama that changed a nation.

Highly recommended for younger readers and adults alike to be introduced to the beginnings of the civil rights movement.

Freedom Walkers is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month.  Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.  Also reviewed this month: Nightjohn by Gary Paulsen, Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges and  Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson.  Other reviews of interest:  A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg, Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

In 1954, the year that Ruby was born, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the end of  “separate but equal” education for African-American children.  Schools in the deep south ignored the ruling.  Louisiana was given the deadline date of September 1960 to integrate schools in New Orleans.  They would begin with just Kindergarten and integrate one school year at a time.  Ruby Bridges was just one of five black children who passed a test to determine which children should be sent to the white schools.  The test was set up so children would be unable to pass.  Ruby’s family made the decision to stand up for their rights and enrolled Ruby into the first grade at an all white school.  She would be the only black child there.

Ruby arrived for her first day of school in the escort of four U.S federal marshals and to a sinister crowd of angry housewives and teenagers.  Ruby honestly thought the crowd must have been for Mardi Gras.  Furious mothers took their children out of school claiming that they would not return until Ruby had left.  It was a promise they did good on.  For the entire school year the school taught only about five students.  Ruby and four other white students.

Lucille Bridges, Ruby’s mother recounts,

Ruby was special.  I wanted her to have a good education so she could get a good job when she grew up.  But Ruby’s father through his child shouldn’t go where she wasn’t wanted.

There were things I didn’t understand.  I didn’t know Ruby would be the only black child in the school.  I didn’t know how bad things would get.

I remember being afraid on the first day Ruby went to the Frantz school, when I came home and turned on the TV set and I realized that, at that moment, the whole world was watching my baby and talking about her.

At that moment, I was most afraid.

Ruby, however, was in just a class of one and was unaware of any other children in the school.  The school really did stay segregated inside it’s own walls.  Those white parents who tried to stand up and take their kids to school, were harassed so badly that they gave up.  Luckily, Ruby had a teacher Mrs. Henry who loved and adored her.  Unluckily, she had a principle who hated the idea of segregation and made things as difficult as possible.

Ruby recounts what it was like to be dropped off each morning and to leave each day in the midst of a very angry mob.  She also tells of the stress that it brought upon her family, as her father lost her job because she attended a white school.  There were highlights though, as she tells of the amazing outpouring of love, and monetary support they received from strangers outside of the state who recognized what an important stride she was making.  Of course, Ruby was only six, so much of what she understood was very limited.

It wasn’t until Ruby Bridges was an adult that she even knew that she was the subject of a famous Norman Rockwell painting or written about in John Steinbeck’s Travel’s with Charley.  She’s also the subject of a picture book entitled The Story of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles, who was her child psychiatrist at the time and a Disney movie called Ruby Bridges .

Ruby now travels the country making public appearances speaking out about her experience, the power in an education and race.  I appreciated her thoughts that schools, mainly inner-city schools, are being segregated all over again and who difficult it is to offer students the same opportunities they would receive in some of the suburban schools.

A great video introduction to Through My Eyes:

Through My Eyes was an excellent insight into a pivotal event in history as seen through the eyes of Ruby Bridges.  A great resource for all ages.  Ruby Bridge’s website.

Through My Eyes is part of my themed reading for the month of February which celebrates Black History Month.  Join me this month as I explore books that celebrate the history of African-Americans.  Also reviewed this month:  Show Way by Jacqueline Woodson.  Other reviews of interest:  A Thousand Never Evers by Shana Burg, Yankee Girl by Mary Ann Rodman, Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson, and Elijah of Buxton by Christopher Paul Curtis.

Please welcome Shana Burg, author of A Thousand Never Evers to the Maw Books Blog for a wonderful interview!  If you haven’t read A Thousand Never Evers, what are you waiting for?  You won’t regret the time that you spend with Addie Ann and her family down in Kuckachoo Mississippi (read my book review).  Shana Burg is an author to watch for, let me tell you, she’s going places, and you’ll want to be along for the ride!

Maw Books:  Welcome Shana!  It’s a pleasure to have you today.  Let’s start off short and simple.  Why this story?

Shana Burg: This story was brewing inside me all my life. I remember being about fourteen years old and there was only one African American student in my social studies class. I remember looking at her and wondering what it would be like to be her. How would I feel?

I was born in Birmingham, Alabama, where my dad was a lawyer fighting for civil rights. It wasn’t until I was a tween living in the Boston area, though, that I began to ask all kinds of questions about this time in my family’s history and our nation’s history.

I was fascinated to hear about the critical role young people played during the movement, how they helped to change the future of our country. As I got older, I wanted to learn more about the civil rights movement.

Maw Books:  How did Addie Ann come to life for you?

Shana Burg: My protagonist, Addie Ann, came to life for me when I completed some great writing exercises that I’d recommend for all fiction writers. I filled out extensive character questionnaires and I did a lot of free writing. And since A Thousand Never Evers is set in the Mississippi Delta in 1963, I also spent a lot of time interviewing people who were young in that time and place.

Maw Books:  How have these characters changed your life?

Shana Burg: They are as real to me as any “real” person. I think about them, I worry about them, I wonder what they might do in a particular situation. They really have become part of my family, because even my son who is four years old talks about his sister Addie Ann.

Maw Books:  That’s cute.  She must be the topic of conversation over dinner frequently.  On your website, you say, “I found an agent, sold A Thousand Never Evers.”  It couldn’t have been that easy.  What was the process like for you from the time of conception to publication?

Shana Burg: Well, about four years into writing my book, I got my agent, Andrea Cascardi. Andrea is a former editor. I’m so lucky I found her. She really helped me revise and polish. She sent the book out a few times, and it came back with long letters from devoted editors cheering me on with lengthy, detailed suggestions for revision. When that happened, I knew I was getting very close.

I kept revising, and then finally, finally, it seemed I got it right, because several editors were interested in buying it. I went with Michelle Poploff from Delacorte Press. Not only had I heard that Michelle’s an excellent editor, but also I had insider information that she’s a gem of a human being. This turned out to be completely true on both counts.

Maw Books:  Did you ever think that you would not only be a writer but also a published author?  Or did it sneak up on you?

Shana Burg: I’ve been writing all my life. When I was fourteen years old, I was lucky enough to join an organization called Children’s Express that trains young people to report and write the news. My articles were published in newspapers nationwide. I also edited my high school newspaper and wrote for my college newspaper. As an adult, I wrote op-ed pieces and feature articles.

But it’s the part about being a children’s author that did sneak up on me. I was teaching sixth grade. I took my class to hear David Almond speak. He completely inspired me. I thought, “ I’m going to try writing a book for young readers. I’m going to do this.” I had never tried writing children’s fiction before. But that afternoon, as soon as I got home from school, I started writing A Thousand Never Evers. It took me eight years to finish!

Maw Books:  Eight years.  I guess that means I shouldn’t give up on my husband who’s been outlining his book for two years.  What was it like when you first saw A Thousand Never Evers in a bookstore?

Shana Burg: Totally amazing! Someone told me it would be an anticlimactic event, but it wasn’t. I just felt so proud that I had persevered through eight years to get this story on the shelf. Of course, I couldn’t have done it without the help of my fantastic agent and editor.

Maw Books:  I love to ask authors to share a favorite recipe with us.  Butter bean cookies?  Seriously?  Are butter beans a Southern thing (I don’t think I’ve seen them here in Utah)?  Would you care to share the recipe?

Shana Burg: If you’re lucky enough to live in a part of the country where your supermarket actually has canned butter beans then thank your lucky stars!  If not, you can always order butter beans online and soak them.

You basically make your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe, but substitute half the butter with butter beans. One cup of butter equals one cup of butter beans. But be sure to rinse the canned beans well before you start, or else…!

Then, if you’re a chocolate freak, throw in ½ cup of dark chocolate cocoa powder, so you have a dark brown batter. (This serves as the perfect background color against which to highlight a bright white butter bean.)

Five minutes before the cookies are done, pull the cookie sheet out of the oven and press one butter bean onto the top of each cookie. (Don’t just place the butter bean on top, but slightly insert it so it will stay lodged in that cookie.) Return to oven for five minutes.

Mmmm! Just thinking about them makes my mouth water!

And please note: After a couple days the butter beans on top get hard and crunchy. But fear not, the cookies are extra scrumptious this way.

Maw Books:  I’m seriously thinking that I need to track down some butter beans.  The cookies sound so . . . well, buttery.  Yum!  As a writer and a grade school teacher what are some of your favorite book recommendations?

Shana Burg: My favorite childhood author was Judy Blume. It’s a complete thrill to share a publisher with her now. But most of the books I fall in love with teach me something about other cultures and time periods. One of my all-time favorites is The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck. It’s epic, the characters are so powerfully drawn, and you get to learn about China. I also love Alexandra Fuller’s book Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight and The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne.

Maw Books:  I loved The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and told my husband he is taking me out to the movies when it’s released here.  What are you reading right now?

Shana Burg: Right now I’m reading Taking Away the Distance, a memoir by Miles Roston. The author describes his journey to help a 14-year-old orphan named Kevin learn how to avoid HIV/AIDS while the disease rages all around him in Kenya.

Maw Books:  You have done a lot of service work.  Has publishing a book influenced your ability to serve others, particularly children?

Shana Burg: I hope I’m serving children by going into classrooms and encouraging them to be active citizens, as well as readers and writers.

Maw Books:  Can you tell us a bit about what you are currently working on and what we can expect from you in the future?

Shana Burg: I’m working on a contemporary novel for middle grade students. Beyond that, I’m going to keep it under wraps.

Maw Books:  You are such a tease Shana!  Thanks for joining us today and wish you much deserved success in the future!

Shana’s website and blog is excellent and also provides a lot of resources about the civil rights movement during the ’60’s and discusses how much of America’s schools are still segregated.  For more Q & A visit her website and Cynthia Leitich Smith presents a great interview at Cynsations.

In the meantime, the wealthy white man that Addie Ann and her uncle work for dies and leaves his garden to the entire community, meaning both blacks and whites are meant to work it together.  But of course the whites won’t let the blacks have anything to do with it and a community already riled with racial tension threatens to break out into violence.  When Uncle Bumps life is in danger, Addie Ann must decide if she has the courage to stand up and take action.  And in the process she not only learns how her father really died but also about bravery, life, love, and the power of a single individual.

Addie Ann’s voice is wonderfully real and authentic.  She begins as a small girl worried about the little things in life and is swept up in a movement that is much bigger than she is.  Through her voice and her eyes we learn about the injustices that blacks faced including segregation, church bombings, fighting to receive the vote, and the Klu Klux Klan.

Shana Burg reminded me of Mary Ann Rodman (my interview with Mary Ann), author of Yankee Girl.  Both authors had fathers who played a role in the civil rights movement in the south during the ’60’s and both wrote novels about coming of age during that time.  I’d recommend reading both.

I can’t recommend A Thousand Never Evers enough, it’s one that you don’t want to miss!  It is Shana Burg’s debut novel and I have a feeling that she has a great career ahead of her.  Shana is also wonderfully nice and lives in Austin (where my parents live) and even invited me to coffee next time I visit!  How often does one get that invitation?  Shana was gracious enough to share an interview with the Maw Books readers.  Watch for it up next!  You don’t want to miss it!

Links of interest:  Shana Burg’s website and blog.  Edited to add: Maw Books author interview and Shana’s butter bean cookies.
Genre:  Historical Fiction, approx ages 9-12
Publisher:  Delacorte Books for Young Readers.  June 10, 2008.
Hardcover, 320 pages.  ISBN: 0385734700
A Thousand Never Evers is available from your favorite independent bookstore, Powell’s, and Amazon.

Yankee Girl was inspired by Mary Ann Rodman’s own childhood, who like the main character lived in Jackson, Mississippi during the height of the civil rights movement.  Alice is the daughter of a FBI agent and when the civil rights movement down south excalates, Alice and her family move from Chicago to Mississippi.  They are placed smack dab in the middle of a culture that they don’t understand, nor does she understand why people treat blacks differently. To make matters worse, Alice doesn’t fit in at school because she’s a Yankee.  She knows what it feels like to be the one that’s different.

Alice soon discovers that she’s not the only one in need of a friend when Valerie Taylor joins her sixth grade class – the first of two black students at her new school as a result of a mandatory integration law.  Valerie doesn’t want to be there as much as everybody else but her father is a high profile civil rights leader who travels with Martin Luther King.  Alice is torn between the prospect of befriending Valerie or harassing her so she can fit in with the popular girls.  This story gives an awesome narrative of the dangers of racist motivations and the consequences for following the crowd instead of your heart at a time when it matters most.

Mary Ann Rodman is quickly becoming one of my favorite children’s authors this year.  Yankee Girl was a wonderful book and I highly recommend it, as well as Jimmy’s Stars.  Both are great historical fiction novels!  I’m now off to read My Best Friend and will anticipate anything that she publishes in the future (which she can tell you about that here).