Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement
Jim Lewis and John Zwerg grew up in startlingly different circumstances, but together they helped change the world. Lewis, who is black, was the son of sharecroppers in Alabama. He started working in the fields at six. He attended a segregated, two-room school, and from the time he was young he dreamed of getting on a bus and leaving the state where being black meant so many doors were closed to him. Zwerg, who is white, was the son of a dentist and a homemaker in Appleton, Wisconsin, a community he describes as “lily-white” during his childhood in the 1940s and 1950s. When he attended Beloit College, he roomed with one of six students of color on the campus and his eyes began to open wide to racism. Like others before them, Lewis and Zwerg, who met in 1961 while both were attending school in Nashville, literally put their lives on the line for justice. They participated in sit-ins to protest segregation in Nashville, and then joined the Freedom Rides. Boarding buses in states that followed federal desegregation laws, Freedom Riders challenged southern states that refused to comply. As the buses crossed the borders of segregated states like Alabama, Freedom Riders cast a national spotlight on the racist social and political systems of the deep south. They were often met by angry, violent mobs, and local police who afforded little or no protection. In chronicling the Freedom Rides through the individual lives and shared experiences of Lewis and Zwerg, Ann Bausum takes readers on a vivid, unforgettable journey into the past. The Freedom Riders’ commitment and passion for justice is palpable, as is the infuriation of those they challenged Archival photographs (including one of a hospitalized Zwerg after he was badly beaten by a Montgomery, Alabama, mob) illustrate this compelling look at one facet of the Civil Rights Movement. ©2006 Cooperative Children’s Book Center
Wisconsin author
Ann Bausum grew up in Lexington, Virginia. She moved to Wisconsin to attend Beloit College. She currently lives in Janesville.
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 11 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Substantial Narrative Non-Fiction
Subjects:
20th Century
Activism and Resistance
African Americans
Biography
Civil Rights
Friendship
History (Nonfiction)
Racism
U.S. History
Violence
Diversity subject:
Black/African
Publisher:
National Geographic
Publish Year: 2006
Pages: 79
ISBN: 0792241738
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 323 Bausum