The story does start when two young girls Minnie and her sister would past their mother's door and sneak out of the house to join Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The two young girls and the crowd were gathered around Dr. King to hear his speech. Minnie and her sister would mimic Dr. King by walking faster, clapping with their feet, and looking ahead. I love how everyone kept marching and holding hands by faith, however, I did not like it when they shout and scream at them. The white people shouted they not right, and equality is not theirs. I love how they point out the sun would get higher in the sky as Dr. King speaks about change and nonviolence. I love how Minnie and her sister sung freedom songs as they ran back home. I believe the red roses represent the last page when the girls return home to their mother safely. Also, when the mother smiles and hugs her girls, she was so proud of them because she realized that her girls want to make a change by marching for equality and freedom. It was interesting to see the young girl held her teddy bear throughout the whole story. I believe the red bow on the teddy bear represents hope. Also, the red bow, in my opinion, means the youth is important because they can make a difference and fight for what is right. Lastly, the American flag with red stripes represents freedom and change. This story was inspiring, uplifting, and amazing. I enjoyed every part of it and I learned so much from this story. I was smiling because those young girls made me proud of them by keeping hope alive. I love the illustrations in the story because it has this black and white charcoal drawing with a few punches of red. Also, the illustrations are very detailed and neat. I would read this story to the kids. This story is written from the first-person point of view from the sister's perspective. ( )

The narrator and her sister Minnie race out of their house, slipping past their mother's door. It's revealed that they are running to a big crowd where people wait to march. On the next page, you see Dr. King and people gathered around him listening to his speech. Minnie and the narrator begin to march with everyone, although they are by far the youngest in the crowd. They stay through the whole march and listen intently to Dr. King's speech. Minnie and the narrator race back home, singing about freedom as they run back down the same path they took to get there. Their mom is worried when they get back, but she gives them a big hug and listens to their stories about the march. The narrator smells "a sweet smell of roses" as she marches in the midst of everything, as they chant together, as they gather together, and all through their house as they hug their mom. The smell of roses, based on where it's mentioned in the story, represent the hope or maybe togetherness that the two girls felt that day. The illustrations in this book are powerful; they are all in black and white with touches of red. ( )

The plot of this story is very simple Two little girls sneak out of the house, participate in a freedom march, and then return home safely. But the book really tells a story deeper than that. It shows how as we go through life we never know who's watching us. There were times in the book where the girls would mimic the moves of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. I thought it was beautiful to see. For the girls to know they wanted to be apart of a huge movement and be apart of a crowd of people who were trying to make a difference, it was inspirational. ( )

Two sisters sneak out of their house to join in a March led by Dr. King. Angela Johnson's poetic words and Velasquez's charcoal illustrations transport you to the civil rights era. Velasquez does not use any color except for the red in the teddy bears ribbon, the flag, and the roses. I thought his illustrations were very powerful without needing color. This story is unique because you get a peak into this period of time through the eyes of a child. They march through town with their head held high, listening to the words of Dr. King. After the march they return home to their worried mother, almost unaware of the mark they just made on history. ( )

A Sweet Smell of Roses takes into the shoes of two young girls as they join Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to march for freedom. The book begins early in the morning and ends in the afternoon, following the girls from front porch through the market to the march and back. The black and white charcoal drawings are highlighted with a few punches of red, the bow on a bear on of the girls holds, then again on the stripes of the American Flag, and finally on roses in the window.

That red bow seemed to say something about the youth as an important and maybe underrepresented part of the Civil Rights Movement. All throughout the story, the sweet smell of roses lingers, associating it with the idea of freedom, equality, and non-violence. This book is a reminder to me of the roles that many unnamed people and children played in the Civil Rights movement.