We tend to have the idea that the idea of bus boycotts started spontaneously with Rosa Parks. You don't have to do much research, though, to realize just how untrue that is. Like in this case. A full three years before the famous arrest, we encounter the story of Evans. If anyone had the right to demand a seat on a bus it was Evans, given her history of service. And as with Parks, she asked for her rights firmly but politely. This is a story that belongs in our Black history education, especially as it is easily understood by young readers. For older readers, it would be worth contrasting with Parks and Colvin to encourage a conversation about who deserves our attention and respect.

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read and review this book. This is a book for grades 3 and 4, and I think it should be required reading in schools. I hadn't heard of Sarah Keys Evans before, and everyone should learn about her. She was a veteran who refused to give up her seat on a bus while traveling through the South in the 1950s. Rosa Parks, Sarah Keys Evans and other Black women were challenging the segregation on transportation. This was an informational and important read.

Rating: a solid 3.5 stars

Almost everyone has heard of Rosa Parks, the Montgomery, Alabama Civil Rights activist who in 1955 refused to vacate a bus seat for a white man, but few know there were younger women who demonstrated similar defiance before Parks. One was 15-year-old Claudette Colvin, whom I’d heard of; the other, Sarah Keys Evans, a 23-year-old soldier, whom I hadn’t. Evans was the first of the three to insist she had the right to sit where she chose. This informative and nicely organized little nonfiction book, roughly geared towards kids aged 9-12, claims to tell Evans’s story, and it does . . . well, sort of.

Readers are informed that Evans grew up a quiet, shy girl in North Carolina. Her parents placed high value on hard work and determination. She attended a segregated Catholic high school and then went north to New Jersey, where she attended nursing school. At some point, she joined the Women’s Army Corps, as it offered educational, career, and travel opportunities.

The critical detail about Evans is that in 1952, while on leave, she boarded a bus in New Jersey to travel home to see her folks in North Carolina. When the bus stopped in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina to allow a new driver to take over, that driver noticed Evans sitting near the middle of the bus. She refused to surrender her seat to a white US Marine. In fact, she was unwilling to move at all. The other passengers were ordered off the bus, and two white police officers arrived, charging Evans with disorderly conduct. She spent the night in a jail cell and was fined. Later, at the urging of her father, a former Navy man, she brought a lawsuit against the private bus company that was segregating passengers according to race. She was supported by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which linked her up with attorney Dovey Johnson Roundtree. (Roundtree herself had endured a similar incident as a WAC member.) It took three years for the case to be resolved in favour of Evans.

The author focuses on key details about the lawsuit, including information about an earlier ruling by the US Supreme Court, which decreed that states could not make laws that caused interstate travel to be difficult. Unfortunately, there was a loophole: Discriminatory <i>state</i> laws were illegal but not the discriminatory practices of <i>private</i> companies, such as the Carolina Coach Company, which operated the bus Evans was on.

I learned a lot about transportation segregation from this little book, which also mentions the famous Freedom Riders, teams of young black and white activists who, in 1961, rode south from Washington DC to New Orleans to test the ruling against segregation of interstate travel. Some riders made it to their destination without incident, but others met with violence. One bus was bombed.

In the end, as informative and attractive as this book is (it’s colourful and a lot of photos are included), I didn’t feel I was given Sarah Keys Evans’s story as promised. The social, historical, and legal contexts are accessibly related, but the author doesn’t tell enough about Sarah herself to allow young readers to know her and care for her—which is a shame. For this reason, I can’t give <i><b>The Untold Story of Sarah Keys Evans</i></b> full marks.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for providing me with a free digital copy for review purposes.

In recent times, we've been hearing about Claudette Covin, who preceded Rosa Parks in being arrested for not giving up their seat on a bus in the south. Now we're discovering that an unknown woman by the name of Sara Keys Evans was before both of them. This is a short read and is more geared towards a younger demographic, but there was just enough information to make you want to do more research into this remarkable woman's life. This was such an informative read.

I received a copy of the book via NetGalley, and am voluntarily leaving an honest review of my own thoughts and opinions.

The Untold Story of Sarah Keys Evans by Artika R. Tyner is an incredible history book that should be on every shelf! 3 years before the incredible Rosa Parks made her very famous and public protest, Sarah Keys Evans refused to be removed from her seat while traveling publicly down in the south. This was an incredible book that had us moved to tears. A true hero and further proof that Black Woman have always been integral to life and what is right and good in this world.

I thought that this was a brilliant book!

I was intrigued by the title and the blurb and knew that this was a lady that I needed, and wanted to know more about. The book is well written and well laid out, and easy to follow and packed with interesting details.

It won't just be me that hadn't heard of this amazing lady and I hope she gets the recognition that she deserves as she sounds a fascinating character and she was a veteran too so I have a lot of respect for this lady and what she achieved and the changes that she helped to make for the better!

It is 5 stars from me for this one, very highly recommended!

A fine historical introduction to Sarah Keys Evans, one of the leaders during the Civil Rights battle. She was told to move to the back of the bus but refused and her steadfast bravery was subsequently also shown by Rosa Parks and this dedication led to America to ultimately fighting against racism and discrimination. The book is written for young people with very fine photographs. It opens up the eyes of the young to a part of our history and speaks to how one person can make a deep difference. Recommended.