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goodem9199's review against another edition
5.0
Fantastic narrative on the Birmingham Children's March. It's amazing to think that children as young as 9 years old had the gumption to stand up in the ways that they did. It blew my mind.
thewenzl's review against another edition
4.0
"We've Got a Job" tells the story of four children who participated in the 1963 Children's March for racial equality in Birmingham, Alabama. This often overlooked, but integral, part of the Civil Rights Movement where the children succeeded in making a difference when the adults, even Martin Luther King Jr., failed. As a children's librarian in a public library, I come across a great deal of non-fiction literature, but rarely does a non-fiction book catch and hold my attention like "We've Got a Job" did. The writing is clear and concise, but also engaging. It's easy to forget you're reading non-fiction because the story is told so well. One element I found particularly interesting was the view of the people of Birmingham toward Martin Luther King Jr. We are always told the merits of MLK Jr. and how essential he was to the Civil Rights Movement, but he couldn't succeed here. I would highly recommend this book to young adults ages 12-18, especially those looking to find a personal connection to the movement, or for those who don't think kids can make an impact. This would even be a great read for parents to read to higher elementary age kids when they can start a discussion about the civil rights movement. You don't have to read the entire book to still take away something wonderful.
brendan_e_m's review against another edition
4.0
Five (of many) takeaways:
*The Civil Rights Movement was floundering in 1963. Adults were less prone to march even if they were attending nightly meetings, due to economic and physical pressures and disagreements about strategy, and segregationists were getting smarter about shifting their own brutal responses to protesters in order to avert national outrage. The kids brought momentum back to the movement by taunting segregationists ("fill up the jails," "turn on the hoses") to reignite that national outrage.
*Movement tactics in Birmingham were being hotly debated in 1963. Fight back, aim for incremental change, or use radical nonviolence as a tactic? There was far less agreement than we assume looking back, and more than two approaches to achieving equal rights.
*The Children's March helped to get Kennedy's attention 2.5 years into his administration.
*Some white Birmingham residents were utterly uninformed about critical events in their own city, like not even hearing about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Local news coverage was disregarding or burying highly newsworthy events.
*Brave children coordinated with brave parents and adult leaders.
*The Civil Rights Movement was floundering in 1963. Adults were less prone to march even if they were attending nightly meetings, due to economic and physical pressures and disagreements about strategy, and segregationists were getting smarter about shifting their own brutal responses to protesters in order to avert national outrage. The kids brought momentum back to the movement by taunting segregationists ("fill up the jails," "turn on the hoses") to reignite that national outrage.
*Movement tactics in Birmingham were being hotly debated in 1963. Fight back, aim for incremental change, or use radical nonviolence as a tactic? There was far less agreement than we assume looking back, and more than two approaches to achieving equal rights.
*The Children's March helped to get Kennedy's attention 2.5 years into his administration.
*Some white Birmingham residents were utterly uninformed about critical events in their own city, like not even hearing about the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Local news coverage was disregarding or burying highly newsworthy events.
*Brave children coordinated with brave parents and adult leaders.
librariandest's review against another edition
4.0
Like a lot of people my age and younger, I have trouble trying to imagine what it would've been like to grow up in the South in the 1960s. The injustice, the suffering, the hatred--it's overwhelming to imagine it happening around me. But here comes a book that really puts you right there in the middle and shows you the nitty gritty.
Because Cynthia Levinson's We've Got a Job is told from the perspectives of four real children who lived in Birmingham at the time, it is immediately more visceral and moving than most accounts I've read. If you can put yourself in the shoes of Audrey, Arnetta, James, and Wash, you can have some idea of what you might've thought, said, and done if you'd been there. I think that's the power of this book and it's especially apparent in the book's awesome opening:
"On Thursday morning, May 2, 1963, nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks woke up with freedom on her mind. But, before she could be free, there was something important she had to do. 'I want to go to jail,' Audrey had told her mother. Since Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks thought that was a good idea, they helped her get ready."
Would you go to jail to be free? What if you were just nine years old? Could you be peaceful and passive as your enemies called you names and threatened you? Would you pick yourself up and try again after multiple defeats?
This book just slays me because it's so inspirational and heartbreaking at the same time. For every win, there's a terrible loss. For every step forward, there's also a push back. We have this in teen non-fiction, but I think kids as young as 5th, maybe 4th, grade would be absorbed by the stories of the people in this book, especially the children.
Children are the heroes in this story. When Martin Luther King Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth were trying to fill the jails of Birmingham in peaceful protest, they couldn't get enough adults to volunteer for the cause. The grown-ups were afraid of losing their jobs and weren't sure protesting was the smartest way to go. The kids, however, valiantly risked life and limb to demand equal treatment. They marched and went to jail in the thousands. They endured racist taunts, fire hoses, attack dogs, and other violence. They made a difference.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because there were a few times I found the narrative confusing. The author would refer back to a character I didn't remember or jump around in time in a way that didn't make sense to me. Ultimately, it's a well-written, powerful book that I'll be happy to recommend this coming school year.
Because Cynthia Levinson's We've Got a Job is told from the perspectives of four real children who lived in Birmingham at the time, it is immediately more visceral and moving than most accounts I've read. If you can put yourself in the shoes of Audrey, Arnetta, James, and Wash, you can have some idea of what you might've thought, said, and done if you'd been there. I think that's the power of this book and it's especially apparent in the book's awesome opening:
"On Thursday morning, May 2, 1963, nine-year-old Audrey Faye Hendricks woke up with freedom on her mind. But, before she could be free, there was something important she had to do. 'I want to go to jail,' Audrey had told her mother. Since Mr. and Mrs. Hendricks thought that was a good idea, they helped her get ready."
Would you go to jail to be free? What if you were just nine years old? Could you be peaceful and passive as your enemies called you names and threatened you? Would you pick yourself up and try again after multiple defeats?
This book just slays me because it's so inspirational and heartbreaking at the same time. For every win, there's a terrible loss. For every step forward, there's also a push back. We have this in teen non-fiction, but I think kids as young as 5th, maybe 4th, grade would be absorbed by the stories of the people in this book, especially the children.
Children are the heroes in this story. When Martin Luther King Jr. and Fred Shuttlesworth were trying to fill the jails of Birmingham in peaceful protest, they couldn't get enough adults to volunteer for the cause. The grown-ups were afraid of losing their jobs and weren't sure protesting was the smartest way to go. The kids, however, valiantly risked life and limb to demand equal treatment. They marched and went to jail in the thousands. They endured racist taunts, fire hoses, attack dogs, and other violence. They made a difference.
The only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is because there were a few times I found the narrative confusing. The author would refer back to a character I didn't remember or jump around in time in a way that didn't make sense to me. Ultimately, it's a well-written, powerful book that I'll be happy to recommend this coming school year.
afro8921's review against another edition
5.0
We’ve got a Job the 1963 Birmingham Children’s March is a great primer for students looking
for an inside look at the civil rights movement. Ms. Levinson not only provides historic
information, she ties in a human element that makes the history of the civil rights movement
come to life. The social stratification within the African American community and its impact on
the civil rights movement is explored, along with white America’s ambivalence towards civil
rights. The book uses visually appealing pages with black text on white pages for the children’s
story, and white text on black pages to highlight historical moments. While is book is well
written, it might be a hard sell for librarians. This book would be an excellent book for teens
interested in history.
for an inside look at the civil rights movement. Ms. Levinson not only provides historic
information, she ties in a human element that makes the history of the civil rights movement
come to life. The social stratification within the African American community and its impact on
the civil rights movement is explored, along with white America’s ambivalence towards civil
rights. The book uses visually appealing pages with black text on white pages for the children’s
story, and white text on black pages to highlight historical moments. While is book is well
written, it might be a hard sell for librarians. This book would be an excellent book for teens
interested in history.
sc104906's review against another edition
3.0
This nonfiction novel discusses the role of children in Civil Rights Movement. The entire black community desperately desired equality and during the Civil Rights Era, the actions heated up. Children began their own peaceful protests, leaving in the middle of school to be put in jail for weeks on end. While a difficult fight, with slow change, the black community worked desperately to fight for their equality.
This book included many different sources to compose the entire story, which was great.
This book included many different sources to compose the entire story, which was great.
stuhlsem's review against another edition
4.0
Really interesting--I didn't know ANYTHING about the Children's March, so basically everything was new to me. This was one of those times when you read about something historical and wonder, if I was there, what would I have done? I'm sure I wouldn't have had the courage to go out and march, even knowing that I would likely be arrested, beaten, or attacked by dogs.
abigailbat's review against another edition
4.0
Yes, this is a book about the Birmingham Children's March of 1963, but it's also a really rich resource on civil rights in general. There were many civil rights demonstrations that led up to the Children's March - sit-ins at lunch counters, ride-ins on segregated buses, marches and parades by adults - none of which really had the desired effect. This is an important book, not only for telling a little-known story, but for telling a story about kids and teens making a difference. The story of the Birmingham Children's March clearly illustrates that kids can make a difference and sometimes their efforts are essential.
Ervin Ross's narration is steady and clear and it fits the content nicely. This past year I've gotten into NPR and I'm enjoying listening to nonfiction audiobooks all the more (they're like long NPR episodes! You learn so much!). A very nice feature of the audiobook is that parts of Cynthia Levinson's recorded interviews with the featured activists are included. It was great to hear them talking about their experiences in their own words after reading about them in the book.
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2013/05/audiobook-review-weve-got-job.html
Ervin Ross's narration is steady and clear and it fits the content nicely. This past year I've gotten into NPR and I'm enjoying listening to nonfiction audiobooks all the more (they're like long NPR episodes! You learn so much!). A very nice feature of the audiobook is that parts of Cynthia Levinson's recorded interviews with the featured activists are included. It was great to hear them talking about their experiences in their own words after reading about them in the book.
http://www.abbythelibrarian.com/2013/05/audiobook-review-weve-got-job.html
referencegrrrl's review against another edition
5.0
In the early 1960s, a group of black protestors made their way through Birmingham marching for Civil Rights. They were sprayed with fire hoses by local authorities, the impact of the water so forceful that it sheared the hair off the side of Carolyn Maull’s head. Others were hurled against brick buildings. One boy was lifted into the air. They were assaulted with glass bottles and bricks thrown by onlookers from neighboring buildings. They were attacked by German shepherds set loose by police officers. They were arrested and sent to jail where they were interrogated and hit with chains.
And they were children. About the same age as you.
D-Day on May 2, 1963. Freedom Fighters. The Peace Ponies. Project C. The Ku Klux Klan. Communism. Operation Confusion. It all comes together here in this story of 4 of the children who walked bravely into this nightmare to stand up for their rights. The stories are powerful, unforgettable, heartbreaking. The photographs are distressing. I stared at the photographs, in complete disbelief that they were real.
Over the course of a few days in May 1963, these children, on the urgings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., knew they had to be the ones to make a stand. And stand they did. They set off “the fight that decides whether America will live or die.” (James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality) Between May 2 and May 6, almost 2500 young people had been arrested.
The 4 children whose stories are told here, even though they were all black and from Birmingham, were all from different backgrounds. Audrey was from a black middle-class family. Washington Booker III lived in a 2-story tenement and didn’t take a bath in a tub with hot and cold running water until he was 9. James Stewart ‘s father was the first black board-certified obstetrician in Alabama. And Arnetta Streeter grew up attending a Catholic school taught by white nuns and was immersed in fighting for Civil Rights from a very early age.
And their story is the story of how a Children’s March changed American history.
And they were children. About the same age as you.
D-Day on May 2, 1963. Freedom Fighters. The Peace Ponies. Project C. The Ku Klux Klan. Communism. Operation Confusion. It all comes together here in this story of 4 of the children who walked bravely into this nightmare to stand up for their rights. The stories are powerful, unforgettable, heartbreaking. The photographs are distressing. I stared at the photographs, in complete disbelief that they were real.
Over the course of a few days in May 1963, these children, on the urgings of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., knew they had to be the ones to make a stand. And stand they did. They set off “the fight that decides whether America will live or die.” (James Farmer of the Congress of Racial Equality) Between May 2 and May 6, almost 2500 young people had been arrested.
The 4 children whose stories are told here, even though they were all black and from Birmingham, were all from different backgrounds. Audrey was from a black middle-class family. Washington Booker III lived in a 2-story tenement and didn’t take a bath in a tub with hot and cold running water until he was 9. James Stewart ‘s father was the first black board-certified obstetrician in Alabama. And Arnetta Streeter grew up attending a Catholic school taught by white nuns and was immersed in fighting for Civil Rights from a very early age.
And their story is the story of how a Children’s March changed American history.