To the Mountaintop

Gr 9 Up—As one of two students who, on January 9, 1961, integrated the University of Georgia, the author comes across as a prescient young woman who knew what she wanted and was willing to brave life-threatening situations to get it. Alternating between her personal experiences in getting an education—a struggle from elementary school on—and the broader history of the movement, she offers a clear perspective on the Civil Rights Movement from 1959 to 1965 that is both informed and passionate. The prose is vivid and well composed, extended ably by black-and-white photographs of school integration, the Selma march, the Freedom Riders, and the March on Washington, among others. Concluding with a detailed time line running from 1787 to 2009 and with the full text of several New York Times articles covering civil-rights issues, the end matter also includes a sound bibliography, lengthy index, and quotation notes by chapter. For a slightly older audience than Ellen Levine's Freedom's Children (Putnam, 1993), this is a solid, well-written, well-researched title.—Ann Welton, Helen B. Stafford Elementary, Tacoma, WA