Liberty's Civil Rights Road Trip

By Michael W. Waters and Nicole Tadgell

Time to board the bus! Liberty and her friend Abdullah, with their families and a diverse group of passengers, head off to their first stop: Jackson, Mississippi. Next on their map are Glendora, Memphis, Birmingham, Montgomery, and finally Selma, for a march across the iconic Edmund Pettus Bridge.

As told through the innocent view of a child, Liberty's Civil Rights Road Trip serves as an early introduction to places, people, and events that transformed history. The story is inspired by an actual journey led by author Michael W. Waters, bringing together a multigenerational group to witness key locations from the civil rights movement. An author's note and more information about each stop on Liberty's trip offer ways for adults to expand the conversation with young readers.

A portion of the publisher's sales proceeds will be donated to Foot Soldiers Park in Selma, Alabama, a nonprofit dedicated to honoring the history and continued relevance of the Selma movement.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Flyaway Books
• Release date: Oct 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781646982028

Michael W. Waters

Michael W. Waters is an award-winning author, activist, professor, and pastor. His picture book For Beautiful Black Boys Who Believe in a Better World, illustrated by Keisha Morris, won the 2020 Goddard Riverside CBC Youth Book Prize for Social Justice and was named a Must-Read Book about Race by Essence. A sought-after speaker, he is a frequent commentator for major media outlets and has been honored for his work in peace and justice. Michael W. Waters lives in Dallas, Texas. For more information, visit www.michaelwwaters.com.

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Reviews for Liberty's Civil Rights Road Trip

[wanderlustlover_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fall 2021 (September);
~ LibraryThing Arc

Thank you to Michael W. Waters, Nicole Tadgell, Flyaway Books, and LibraryThing for this advanced reader copy for an honest review.

As an avid reader, lover of books, English Professor, and aunt of several amazing nieces and nephews, I do delight in choosing children's books every once in a while to be a reviewer on. I love, love, love this book. I love the diversity in it displayed by those on the trip, and the charm/realism of how these adults and children are tracing their steps back through some of the most important events that were the path to Civil Rights.

I was very pleased to see there were pages in the back, after the story ending, breaking down even more historical facts and details about the events/people/places that the tour stopped on, so that children can be even more educated to the details of those times.

[plnorris-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Liberty's Civil Rights Road Trip serves as a great introduction to some important sites in the Civil Rights Movement. Enjoy the bus trip with Liberty, Abdullah and their diverse group of family and friends, while learning about these important places in history. This book would be a great addition to school or classroom libraries to support curriculum. I received an advanced readers copy of this book in return for an honest review.

[jetangen4571 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A bus trip with kids and parents! I felt like I was with them as they traveled to important historical sites, and I (re)learned a lot in a way much better than in a classroom. Illustrator Nicole Tadgell fills the pages with simple artistry which adds to the impact of this trip through the history of the struggle for civil rights for all. All libraries need this book so we can all remember.I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Flyaway Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

[librarianryan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is based on an actuarial trip taken by the author and their children. About how even in the midst of hard gut wrenching history, they could find the hope and the joy to come from horrific events. The book was fast paced, and I do wish they had better touched on the historical locations and people. The illustrations are watercolor, which makes the book feel a bit dated. I wished they had used real pictures for the info bits at the back but it was not a necessity. I did like how this book mentioned places that are not normally taught about in school.

[janeslist · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this as part of the LibraryThing EarlyReviewer program. This book is beautiful. I love the illustrations. As someone who goes to Maine regularly, it is very evocative of a place I love. I like how Ada and her grandparents interact, and the gentle conversations about the wonders of the galaxies. Now I just want to go back and see the stars again. My 5 year old who loves stars and Maine as well, kept pouring over the pages and asking everyone which picture was their favorite. We will be reading this many times.

[eo206 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Liberty is a young girl, maybe 6-8 years old, who is on a bus tour with other people, including her friend Abdullah to learn about the history of the civil rights movement in America. They stop at different places that bring the civil rights movement into focus and through age-appropriate text introduce the reader to historical figures such as Martin Luther King Jr, Medger Evers, Emmet Till, and others. They also lightly touch on interfaith relations since some of the characters are from various faiths. I can see a teacher or librarian using this book to introduce African American history, the civil rights movement, American history, and relating it today.

[apocalypsehunter · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm so in love with the concept of this book - from the physical journey of learning, to the diverse cast of characters that become closer and closer by the end - but I do wish there was a little more explanation at the trip destinations. Most of the time, the story just says "they learned more about it," rather than actually explaining what or who they're learning about. I think the Edmund Pettus Bridge was a good example of what to do. The father explains in a bit more detail what happened while still keeping it appropriate enough for young children to hear, but he also doesn't pull back on important details such as the police hurting people. The information in the back of the book is a very good start, but I think having all of that information in the story itself "translated" into a speech that children can understand is much more effective. While I do wish there was more context, the art is gorgeous, and the writing style itself is very simple and easy to understand.

[amyghilton · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

While I think this is a great book to introduce children to civil rights issues, I think it is lacking context for the younger children it's geared towards. As the mother of a 3 year old, without some context and discussion about what exactly civil rights are, she would just see a story about people taking a trip on a bus. She would not understand the meaning and importance of the issues the book is discussing. I would love for there to be a page where Liberty is asking her mother at the beginning about civil rights and what they are, just to give younger readers some information before reading the rest of the book. With that said, I think the book is wonderfully illustrated and highlights diversity and the importance of teaching children early on about the people at the beginning of the civil rights movement and the struggles they endured.

[jennifer_long-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This beautiful picture book follows a young girl as her family takes a pilgrimage across the South stopping at 6 places that mark an event or person from the Civil Rights Movement. The author himself led such a pilgrimage to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. King's assassination. The picture book story itself gives a simple explanation of the importance of each stop, but there are several pages in the back of the book devoted to providing more detailed information about each stop. For example, the section in Glendaora, Mississippi at the cotton gin was mentioned as a place to remember Emmett Till who "inspired many others to stand up for the rights of Black people." At the back of the book, you do get more details about Emmett Till's murder, the acquittal of the murderers, and the national outrage.The pictures, done with what looks like pastels and colored pencils, are expressive. The Civil Rights leaders' pictures are set apart in sepia and black and white. The story shows a diverse cast of characters which is important to the main message of the book. The postures of the cover picture do not seem as natural as all the other pictures in the book which draw you in. My favorite picture is of the main character Liberty with her older brother who has his arm lovingly over her shoulder as they look at the information at the cotton gin. This book serves as a good starting point for a journey to learn about the Civil Rights movement.I received an advanced reader copy of this book from Flyaway Books in exchange for an honest review. #LibertysCivilRightsRoadTrip