Someday Is Now: Clara Luper And The 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins

Someday Is Now: Clara Luper And The 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins

"Not only does this book highlight an important civil rights activist, it can serve as an introduction to child activism as well as the movement itself. Valuable." - Kirkus Reviews starred review "Relatable and meaningful ... A top addition to nonfiction collections." - School Library Journal starred reviewMore than a year before the Greensboro sit-ins, a teacher named Clara Luper led a group of young people to protest the segregated Katz drugstore by sitting at its lunch counter. With simple, elegant art, Someday Is Now tells the inspirational story of this unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement. As a child, Clara Luper saw how segregation affected her life. When she grew up, Claraled the movement to desegregate Oklahoma stores and restaurants that were closed to African Americans. Withcourage and conviction, she led young people to ?do what had to be done.? Perfect for early elementary age kids in encouraging them to do what is right andstand up for what is right, even at great cost, this is a powerful story about the power of nonviolent activism.Someday Is Now?hallenges young people to ask how they will stand up against something they know is wrong. Kids are inspired to follow the lessons of bravery taught bycivil rights pioneers like Clara Luper. This moving title includes additional information on Clara Luper?s extraordinary life, her lessons ofnonviolent resistance, and a glossary of key civil rights people and terms.From School Library JournalGr 3-5-This nonfiction picture book follows Clara Luper from her childhood to her mentorship of students in nonviolent resistance during the 1950s and 60s. As an Oklahoma City school teacher, Luper wrote a play for her pupils, who then toured cross-country with her and witnessed the contrast between the integrated Northern cities they visited and the still segregated Southern cities they performed in, and were subsequently motivated to affect positive change in their communities back home, including sit-ins. Rhuday-Perkovich's decision to include Luper's struggle between wanting to keep her students safe and wanting them to act humanizes this civil rights hero, and makes her choices more relatable and meaningful, as does the author's powerful word choice in describing the abusive drugstore customers not as anonymous bullies, but as spitting mothers and screaming fathers. This reminder that the struggle for equality is just as much mental as physical adds a welcome profundity. Johnson has illustrated the narrative in a tableau style, with a bold yellow- and blue-based color palette. The focal points are the expressive outsized faces of the cast of characters, who are all carefully posed. Unembellished backgrounds in muted tones make these characters (and several "whites only" signs) stand out all the more boldly. Back matter includes a brief biography of Luper and explains the four steps of nonviolent resistance depicted in the book. VERDICT Rhuday-Perkovich powerfully teaches young readers that standing up sometimes means standing out. A top addition to nonfiction collections.-Lauren Younger, Nicholson ?emorial Library, Garland, TX?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.Review"Rhuday-Perkovich powerfully teaches young readers that standing up sometimes means standing out. A top addition to nonfiction collections." - Lauren Younger, Nicholson Memorial Library, Garland, TX, School Library Journal?Introduce students to the activism of? an African American high school teacher who organized lunch counter sit-ins for her students to protest segregation in 1958. The narrative functions as a history lesson and as a guide for when and how to challenge injustice (now and with nonviolent direct action). The author does not shy away from describing the humiliating abuse the children suffered during the sit-in. The artist shows images of Black childr