Gwenyth Swain

Riding to Washington is a book about a young white girl who rides a bus with her father to Washington D.C. to hear Dr. King speak and along the way, she begins to understand why Dr. King's message and actions are so important. I enjoyed that the book highlighted the relationship between African Americans and White folks who supported the hope of equality for all. We see Janie's father supporting his neighbors and colleagues, and then eventually Janie herself begins to understand her responsibility to stand up for what is right. One of the characters in the book, an African American woman Mrs. Kennedy, becomes a friend of Janie. She helps Janie understand that people may look different, but we are all just people who want the same basic rights, happiness, and freedoms. In Riding to Washington, the bus stops at a gas station, and after multiple attempts at finding a place that will allow Mrs. Kennedy to use the bathroom, Janie decides to repeatedly ask the gas station clerk to allow them to use their bathroom. Janie tells him, "You got the choice to do the right thing or not. Mama says I make a lot of wrong choices, but I think letting us in would be the right one now." Janie challenged the "way things are done around here", forcing the clerk to really understand that he had a choice on how to proceed, and he chose to allow them to use the bathroom, even though he did not acknowledge that fact. The illustrations in this book are very nice to look at and also allow the reader to really see what is happening in the story. I also liked the character development that took place, showing that people can grow and change. Overall, I enjoyed this book.… (plus d'informations)