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BAYARD RUSTIN

Name: BAYARD RUSTIN
Author: James Haskins
ISBN: 0-7868-0168-9

BEHIND THE SCENES OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT

by James Haskins ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 1, 1997

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A moving and informative biography about an early activist and key player in the civil rights movement. Born in 1912 to an unwed teenager, Rustin was raised by his Quaker grandparents to be a pacifist. Haskins (Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, p. 1401, etc.) portrays Rustin, whom Senator Strom Thurmond attacked as a ``draft dodger, a homosexual, and a Communist,'' in a sympathetic manner, and recounts how Rustin ``had an unparalleled genius for organizing and an unwavering commitment to civil and human rights'' throughout his life. That genius for organizing- -groups, protests, and marches—from the Journey of Reconciliation in 1947 to the March on Washington in 1963, led to the passage of the Civil Rights Act in 1964. Readers will come away from Haskins's book with an admiration for a man in whose humble origins were the seeds of leadership in the fight for equality and justice. (notes, index, not seen) (Biography. 10+)

Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1997

ISBN: 0-7868-0168-9

Page Count: 117

Publisher: Hyperion

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
BOUND FOR AMERICA
by James Haskins & Kathleen Benson & illustrated by Floyd Cooper

- BOOK REVIEW
AFRICAN BEGINNINGS
by James Haskins & Kathleen Benson & illustrated by Floyd Cooper

- BOOK REVIEW
THURGOOD MARSHALL
by James Haskins

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)