John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement

Nonfiction: Biography

Haskins, J., & Benson, K. (2006). John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books Inc.

The book, John Lewis in the Lead: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement, is a biography that briefly covers the life of John Lewis and his involvement in the Civil Rights movement.  The story begins with John Lewis as only a child with responsibilities to the plantation that he and his family worked on for exchange for shelter and some of the crops that were harvested.  As John Lewis grows up, he begins to hear stories of segregation and boycotts from across the country.  After graduating high school, John Lewis set out to stand up against racial injustice and meet Dr. King.  John Lewis began to organize and participate in several sit-ins and marches for peace and racial justice.  Due to many of John Lewis's efforts and other leaders within the Civil Rights Movement, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed two important pieces of legislature into law; the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.  This book, John Lewis in the Lead, is a great re-telling of a influential leader during the Civil Rights Movement, who's perspective and life is different than the famous Dr. King.

The Civil Rights is a topic that is covered in all of K-5.  In the upper elementary grades, students begin to dive deeper into the big events that made the Civil Rights Movement so famous.  I would love to include this book as a supplemental source to my grade's social studies text book for a couple of reasons.  First, John Lewis, while a prominent person in Civil Rights history, is very overshadowed by the famous Dr. King, making him a new person for students to study.  Additionally, because of his in depth work with the Civil Rights marches and sit-ins, I find this book to be a good supplemental text to Martin Luther King related works as well.  Additionally, the easy flow and "story" aspect of this nonfiction books makes it more digestible to students who may struggle to read a text book.

There are several different lessons that could go along with this book.  The first, and probably most obvious as I have already mentioned, would be to use this as a supplemental text to a Civil Rights or Martin Luther King unit.  Another way, since this book focuses on John Lewis who is a current sitting congressman for the state of Georgia, would be to have students research more about John Lewis and what he as done since the Civil Rights Movement.