Turning 15 on the Road to Freedom

“By the time I was fifteen years old, I had been in jail nine times.”With an opening line that hits you like a ton of bricks, Lynda Blackmon Lowery describes what it was like to march for voting rights as a young girl. Lowery was the youngest person to march all the way from Selma to Montgomery in 1965, despite the terror she endured shortly beforehand on Bloody Sunday.I read this all in one go. There's not much text per page, and there are illustrations and photographs. Lowery's writing is direct and accessible. I didn't know about the so-called “brains”—students who went to school during demonstrations to make up assignments for their marching and/or jailed peers. Lowery also mentions cooking, carpooling, and medical help. She provides an interesting look at the many forms activism can take, and by extension who can embody that identity: in short, anyone, of any race, of any age. This is a striking memoir for kids, teens, and adults alike, especially as Black History Month approaches. I can see it being assigned in schools alongside the [b:March 17346698 March Book One (March, #1) John Lewis https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1360539808l/17346698.SX50.jpg 24086771] graphic novels.