Freedom Riders by Ann Bausum

Bausum, Ann. Freedom Riders: John Lewis and Jim Zwerg on the Front Lines of the Civil Rights Movement. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society, 2006.

Summary

Freedom Riders tells the experience of the segregated time period through the childhoods of John Lewis and James Zwerg that will help readers have a clear understanding of our past. As these men journey on a bus with the common interest in justice, you will see a first hand perspective of these freedom rides. The two young men were among the group who continued the freedom rides after the violence in Alabama which left the original bus in flames and riders injured. Both, Lewis and Zwerg kept on even knowing that their own fate could be death. Readers will see an in-death tale of how they shared the freedom ride through the Deep South that changed our nation’s history.

Personal Opinions/Reactions

As Bausum retells the experiences of Zwerg and Lewis, readers will be captivated with these two guys and their lives together and apart. Using a narrative style, Bausum presents the material in a manner that will keep a reader absorbed in the heart-stopping story as you travel through their tale. Bausum includes vivid black and white pictures on every page, including a full page picture to start each seven chapters. Captions are included by the pictures giving details that are engaging and clear. When readers turn the page it is hard to determine if you want to finish your sentence or just look at the pictures and read the captions first. The book could easily be used as a skim through, just looking at the pictures and reading the captions provided.

I would recommend this book to readers ten and up. This would also be a good recommendation to those classrooms studying about this or adults who have interest in the Freedom Riders.

Reviews

Booklist: “In another excellent work of nonfiction, the author of the acclaimed With Courage and Cloth (2004), covers a civil rights topic less frequently addressed than Brown v. Board of Education or the 1963 March on Washington”

School Library Journal: “The incredible courage and determination of young people, black, white, male and female, who risked great personal danger and even death as they participated in the freedom rides during the Civil Rights Movement are the focus of this remarkable book.”