Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Andrew Young, looks at the civil rights movement from a child’s point of view. Shelton’s engaging account is divided into titled sections that begin with “Going Home,” detailing her family’s move from New York back to the south and young Paula’s introduction to Jim Crow. “My First Protest” describes what happened at a restaurant where her family was refused seating because they were Black: “I was so hungry that I started crying . . . Mama and Daddy didn’t try to stop me; they simply sat me down and let me cry. And did I ever!” Additional sections introduce figures of the civil rights movement who were part of Paula’s childhood: Martin Luther King, Jr., and his family joining hers for a swim, a house full of activists arguing next steps as Paula listened to the symphony of voices from beneath the kitchen table. (Brief information about each individual is provided in the back matter.) Textured illustrations in muted tones by Raul Colón convey a sense of the past, including a host of recognizable faces, in this welcome, child-centered reminiscence that is both personal and informative. (Ages 5–10)

In this Bank Street College of Education Best Children's Book of the Year, Paula Young Shelton, daughter of Civil Rights activist Andrew Young, brings a child’s unique perspective to an important chapter in America’s history. Paula grew up in the deep south, in a world where whites had and blacks did not. With an activist father and a community of leaders surrounding her, including Uncle Martin (Martin Luther King), Paula watched and listened to the struggles, eventually joining with her family—and thousands of others—in the historic march from Selma to Montgomery.

Poignant, moving, and hopeful, this is an intimate look at the birth of the Civil Rights Movement.