Cynthia Levinson was in high school when Audrey Faye Hendricks
marched to jail, and she knows she would not have been as brave as
Audrey. But when Cynthia met Audrey forty-five years later, she
knew she had to write a book about her for young readers. She spent
more than three years interviewing marchers and researching the
events. Her book We’ve Got a Job: The 1963 Birmingham Children’s
March tells the story for older readers. Cynthia has also written
about social justice in Watch Out for Flying Kids: How Two
Circuses, Two Countries, and Nine Kids Confront Conflict and Build
Community. She and her husband divide their time between Austin,
Texas, and Boston, Massachusetts.
Vanessa Brantley-Newton is a self-taught artist and has attended
both FIT and SVA of New York, where she studied fashion and
children’s illustration. Vanessa is the illustrator of A Night Out
with Mama by Quvenzhané Wallis, The Youngest Marcher by Cynthia
Levinson, Presenting…Tallulah by Tori Spelling, and Early Sunday
Morning by Denene Millner, among others. She hopes that when people
look at her work, it will make them feel happy in some way, or even
reclaim a bit of their childhood.
*NAACP Image Award Finalist*
*Bank Street Best Children's Books of the Year*
*Carter G. Woodson Award*
*Julia Ward Howe Award*
*SCBWI Crystal Kite Award*
*Goodreads Choice Award Finalist*
*A United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Book Club
Selection*
"It's one of the more shocking and little-known stories of the
civil rights movement: In 1963, the City of Birmingham jailed
hundreds of kids for joining the Children's March. Among them was
7-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks, taken from her family to spend a
week behind bars, eating "oily grits" and sleeping on a bare
mattress. Levinson and Newton keep her story bright and snappy,
emphasizing the girl's eagerness to make a difference and her proud
place in her community."
*The New York Times Book Review, February 12, 2017*
"Readers can decide whether, were they in Audrey's shoes, they
would make the same dangerous
decision.... Levinson...carefully tailors her text to a level
suitable to a younger audience. Newton's digital illustrations
burst with color against a white background.... A vivid reminder
that it took a community to fight segregation and the community
responded."
*Kirkus Reviews, November 2016*
"A significant portrayal of Audrey Faye Hendricks and the
Children’s March."
*School Library Journal, November 2016*
"Having honest and open discussions about race, tolerance, and
acceptance from a very early age can set the stage for a much
broader and deeper understanding of these issues as your child
grows. Here [is a book] that can help spark these
conversations.... The story of the youngest known civil rights
protester in history will teach children that you’re never too
small to stand up for what you believe in."
*Huffington Post, "20 Children’s Books To Spark Important
Discussions About Race And Tolerance"*
"Levinson returns to the subject of We’ve Got a Job as
she recounts, for a younger audience, the story of Audrey Faye
Hendricks and her role in the 1963 Children’s March in Birmingham,
Ala. Moving briskly through events, Levinson explains how the young
Hendricks was eager to stand up to segregation, marching alongside
thousands of fellow students, who were subsequently arrested.
Newton’s bright, digitally assembled collages adeptly highlight the
danger of the situation—grim cells, barbed-wire fences, children
blasted with fire hoses—while emphasizing the power of the
marchers’ collective efforts to push back against injustice."
*Publishers Weekly, December 2016*
"Audrey’s third-person perspective is well represented and
storytold, with short, punchy sentences especially vivid in
conveying individual testimony and movement goals."
*The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, February
2017*
"[This book] can introduce even the youngest children to the idea
of rebellion in an age-appropriate and inspiring way. Give the
princesses and pirates a rest and try these inspiring reads—just
don’t be surprised if bedtime negotiations rise to a new level.
Every activist has to start somewhere!.... The book tells the
true story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, who was arrested at a civil
rights protest in Birmingham, Ala., when she was 9 years old. In
it, Audrey is introduced to stories about the Ku Klux Klan and
police brutality, and she decides to join the protest. The
compelling story about white supremacy and the civil rights era
illustrates the courage and personal sacrifice that activism
requires, and teaches kids why it matters."
*The Washington Post, "The best books for raising activist kids,"
March 10, 2017*
"Levinson tells the true story of Audrey Faye Hendricks, the
youngest participant in the 1963 Birmingham Children's March....
The well-paced text captures a child's voice and presents time and
place realistically. Brightly colored digital collages clearly
depict both the hopeful spirit and the rawer emotions of one
community involved in the civil rights struggle; a double-page
spread of Audrey curled up on a bare mattress in her jail cell is
particularly effective."
*The Horn Book Magazine, May/June 2017*
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