The Voice That Challenged a Nation: Marian Anderson and the Struggle for Equal Rights (bk 2) (114 pgs)

Freedman, Russell (2004). The voice that challenged a nation: Marian Anderson and the struggle for equal rights. Clarion Books. New York.

Summary:
Marian Anderson was an amazing woman who fought to win the freedom to sing wherever she wanted to. This book chronicles her childhood and her rise to fame. It tells of the struggles she experience trying to sing in the United States. Freedman beautifully describes her voice and her passion for her talent. He also helps the reader understand her disappointment and feelings of failure when she still was not allowed to perform in certain areas. At the end of the book, Freedman helps the reader understand the powerful feelings of exhilaration Marian felt when she finally achieved the status she always dreamed up.

Author: Russell Freedman
Illustrator: N/A
Illustrations: Photographs of Marian Anderson through the years and some of her concerts and personal appearances.
Access Features: Table of Contents, Chapter Notes, Selected Bibliography, Selected Discography, Acknowledgments, Picture Credits, Index
Grade Level: 5-8
Book Design: Book is really basic. The cover is a photograph of Marian Anderson in concert in front of the Lincoln Memorial. The title on the cover is large at the top and get smaller as they go down the book. The end pages are a copper color perhaps to reflect the tone of Marian Anderson’s contralto voice. The pages are white with lots of text and at least one picture on every other page.
Writing Style: Freedman uses simple language and wonderful descriptions of her voice and attitude. This book would require background knowledge in order to completely understand the struggles Anderson experienced. Freedman doesn’t explain some of the terms or aspects of that particular time in American history so it would be hard to understand without some knowledge of that time period.
Curriculum: Social Studies
Classroom Use: This book would be a great resource to use during a study of the Civil Rights Movement.
Standards: Social Studies-Standard 2: Time, Continuity, and Change; Standard 4: Individual Development and Identity; Standard 6: Power, Authority, and Governance
Awards: BCCB Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award; 2005 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Award; 2005 Newbery Honor Book
Author Credibility: Russell Freedman has written nearly 50 children's books and spends extensive amounts of time researching the topics he chooses to write about. He says he only writes about people or things that interest him because he knows he will devote more time to these subjects. For this book he includes most of the sources he used when writing this book about Marian Anderson. Most of the information came from books previously written about Marian's life and the time of the Civil Rights Movement.
Related Texts: Remember: The Journey to School Integration by: Toni Morrison; Coming On Home Soon by: Jacqueline Woodson; When Marian Sang: The True Recital of Marian Anderson by: Pam Munoz Ryan; Sequoyah: The Cherokee Man Who Gave His People Writing by: James Rumford; Rosa by: Nikki Giovanni; The Great Fire by: Jim Murphy;

Response:
I was very moved by this book. Marian Anderson was an extremely powerful woman and extremely determined. I was appalled and exhilarated at many different times during this reading. Marian’s ultimate triumph over the laws that were holding her back made the book worth the read.