Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today's Youth
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give her seat  to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus. This simple  act of defiance spurred African American residents' 381-day  boycott of the Montgomery bus system and arguably fueled the civil  rights movement itself.For the last 40 years, Rosa Parks has received thousands and  thousands of letters, most of them from children. This elegantly  designed book contains a diverse selection of these letters on  topics ranging from hope to O.J. Simpson, and Parks's replies are  simple, sometimes poignant, but always reassuring.The first letter from a child in Oakland, California, begins,  "I am sorry that you went to jail because you did not give in  to the system. Mrs. Parks, please try and stop the violence and  the killing, because where I live lots of people get taken out  (killed). "With her thoughtful answers to this ("Life  should not be taken for granted") and other letters, Rosa  Parks continues her legacy of challenging us to become a force for  positive change. Children will be inspired and soothed by the  words of this remarkable woman.(Ages 8 and older)