Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-ins - Hardcover

Rhuday-Perkovich, Olugbemisola

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1633224988 ISBN 13: 9781633224988

Publisher: Seagrass Press, 2018

Synopsis

"Not only does this book highlight an important civil rights activist, it can serve as an introduction to child activism as well as the movement itself. Valuable." — Kirkus Reviews starred review

"Relatable and meaningful ... A top addition to nonfiction collections." — School Library Journal starred review
More than a year before the Greensboro sit-ins, a teacher named Clara Luper led a group of young people to protest the segregated Katz drugstore by sitting at its lunch counter. With simple, elegant art, Someday Is Now tells the inspirational story of this unsung hero of the Civil Rights movement.

As a child, Clara Luper saw how segregation affected her life. When she grew up, Clara led the movement to desegregate Oklahoma stores and restaurants that were closed to African Americans. With courage and conviction, she led young people to “do what had to be done.” Perfect for early elementary age kids in encouraging them to do what is right and stand up for what is right, even at great cost, this is a powerful story about the power of nonviolent activism.

Someday Is Now challenges young people to ask how they will stand up against something they know is wrong. Kids are inspired to follow the lessons of bravery taught by civil rights pioneers like Clara Luper.

This moving title includes additional information on Clara Luper’s extraordinary life, her lessons of nonviolent resistance, and a glossary of key civil rights people and terms.

About this title

About the Author

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich is the author of 8th Grade Superzero, a Notable Book for a Global Society, as well as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People. She is a co-author of the NAACP Image Award nominated Two Naomis and the forthcoming Naomis Too and is the editor of The Hero Next Door, an anthology from We Need Diverse Books.

A member of The Brown Bookshelf and the Advisory Board of We Need Diverse Books, Olugbemisola holds a master of arts in education and writes frequently on literacy and parenting topics. She lives with her family in New York City. Visit her online at olugbemisolabooks.com.

Jade Johnson is a New Orleans–based children's illustrator and educator. She graduated from the Savannah College of Art and Design with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Illustration. Her work has been recognized by Creative Quarterly, The Society of Illustrators, and Applied Arts.

From School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-This nonfiction picture book follows Clara Luper from her childhood to her mentorship of students in nonviolent resistance during the 1950s and 60s. As an Oklahoma City school teacher, Luper wrote a play for her pupils, who then toured cross-country with her and witnessed the contrast between the integrated Northern cities they visited and the still segregated Southern cities they performed in, and were subsequently motivated to affect positive change in their communities back home, including sit-ins. Rhuday-Perkovich's decision to include Luper's struggle between wanting to keep her students safe and wanting them to act humanizes this civil rights hero, and makes her choices more relatable and meaningful, as does the author's powerful word choice in describing the abusive drugstore customers not as anonymous bullies, but as spitting mothers and screaming fathers. This reminder that the struggle for equality is just as much mental as physical adds a welcome profundity. Johnson has illustrated the narrative in a tableau style, with a bold yellow- and blue-based color palette. The focal points are the expressive outsized faces of the cast of characters, who are all carefully posed. Unembellished backgrounds in muted tones make these characters (and several "whites only" signs) stand out all the more boldly. Back matter includes a brief biography of Luper and explains the four steps of nonviolent resistance depicted in the book. VERDICT Rhuday-Perkovich powerfully teaches young readers that standing up sometimes means standing out. A top addition to nonfiction collections.-Lauren Younger, Nicholson ­Memorial Library, Garland, TXα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

About this edition

• Publisher: Seagrass Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1633224988
• ISBN 13: 9781633224988
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 36
• Illustrator: Johnson Jade