Written by: Freddi Williams Evans
Illustrated by: Shawn Costello
Albert Whitman & Company, 2001
a bus of our own
More than anything, Mable Jean wants to go to school. But school is five miles away, and it’s a long walk for a little girl, especially in the cold or rain. Every day, Mable Jean and the other African-American children see a bus carrying white children to the white children’s school. “Why can’t we have a bus of our own?” Mable Jean finally asks her parents.
Based on real events, A Bus of Our Own, tells how a community banded together to help its children get an education. The story inspires readers, and the rich paintings evoke the South of 1940s and 1950s.
BOOK AWARDS & RECOGNITIONS
2004-2005 Many Voices, One Nation Selection – American Library Association
2004 Mississippi Library Association Juvenile Book Award
2003-2004 Young Hoosier Book Award Nominee – Indiana Media Educators
2003 Living the Dream Book Award
2002 Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People
2002 Oppenheim Portfolio Platinum Book Award
2002 Best Children’s Books – Bank Street College of Education, NY
“First-time author Evans’s story is clearly written and well told; what could have been preachy comes through as a thoughtful reconstruction of events and a gentle tribute to determination.”
Kirkus Reviews
“This satisfyingly different title is worthy of acquisition and begs to be read aloud and discussed.”
School Library Journal
“The drama is in the facts about what ordinary people did together.”
Booklist
Related articles written by Freddi
“A Bus of Our Own.” The Storytelling Classroom. Ed. Sherry Norfolk, Jane Stenson & Diane Williams. Westport: Libraries Unlimited, 2006, 62-65.
A Commentary on A Bus of Our Own, “Africa Rising,” Louisiana Weekly, June 21-27, 2004.