Author: Kathryn Jones

Illustrator: Floyd Cooper

When Jamal gets in trouble for fighting over the back seat of a bus, his father and grandfather engage him in a spirited discussion about the Montgomery Bus Boycott and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Characters do things that real people and animals might do.

Places in the story are real or seem real.

The story tells about things that could really happen.

A cause is a reason why an event occurs

An effect is a result of a particular cause

Words such as because, since, and when can indicate a cause-effect relationship

We turned up the heat since it was getting cold. Cause: It was getting cold. Effect: ___________________________.

I fell off my bike and scraped my knee. Cause: _________________________. Effect: I scraped my knee.

Because I helped my mother, she was able to finish her work quickly. Cause: ___________________________. Effect: ____________________________.

Definition: a refusal to buy from a company

Sentence: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. helped organize a boycott of all the city buses in Montgomery.

American Civil Rights leader Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.(1929 - 1968) stands in front of a bus at the end of the Montgomery bus boycott. Montgomery, Alabama December 26, 1956. (Photo Credit: Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

Definition:The legal privileges every American citizen is guaranteed

Sentence: Dr. King became one of the most important leaders of this peaceful battle called the civil rights movement.

Definition:The money a person must pay to travel, as on a bus

Sentence: In order to ride the bus you must pay a fare.

Definition:To express strong feelings against something

Sentence: Many people wanted to protest how African Americans were treated on the buses.

Definition:Amazing

Sentence: The response was stupendous!

The movement brought equal rights to all Americans.

Which two words describe ways to bring about equal rights?

Which word might describe the amazing result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

Which word describes a fee for a bus ride? _________

Main Characters:

Setting:

Goal of a main character:

Important event in the plot:

Why was Grandpa Joe so unhappy that Jamal fought to sit in the back of the bus?

What does Jamal learn from talking with his grandfather?  How is he different after the talk?

Jamal says that he did something “really stupid that turned out to be stupendous instead.”  What do you think he means?

What would you like to do for a school celebration of Dr. King’s birthday?

Who do you think are the heroes in this story?  What makes them heroic?

Dr. King gave speeches and led marches to protest the unfair treatment of African Americans. What was the effect of these actions?