Audrey Faye Hendricks was a civil rights activist at the age of nine, participating in the 1963 Children’s March, which was a pivotal part of the events leading up to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Audrey was the youngest marcher and the brave little girl spent a week in jail as one of the first marchers to be arrested. Even at her young age, she understood segregation and inequality – drinking out of dirty water fountains, sitting in the back of the bus and having hand-me-down books (never beautiful new ones). She sat at her dinner table, listening to Dr. Martin Luther King (“Mike” to her family) talk with her parents about the changes that needed to happen and the work they needed to do to make that change happen.

Told in Audrey’s voice, this story and accompanying illustrations are very powerful. Audrey speaks about the the church meetings, where Dr. King spoke of the impact of civil disobedience to change unjust laws. She knew he was right and she wanted to march, knowing that she would go to jail. She describes her time in jail, eating tasteless grits and sleeping on a thin mattress (the accompanying digital artwork perfectly illustrates the difficult circumstances – a little girl laying on a dirty, torn mattress surrounded by grey). Also included are a recipe for Audrey’s favorite Hot Rolls Baptized in Butter, a timeline, author’s note and sources.

Audrey is released from jail after seven days, knowing that her actions did help Dr. Martin’s cause. She reunites with her parents and the story ends with a two page spread of Audrey and her father sitting at the lunch counter at Newberry’s with ice cream and sitting just down from them are two white children…at the same counter. “Black and white together, like we belong.”

This is a very well-done book for the K-2 crowd, exploring a painful time in American history very clearly and gracefully. It would be a great addition to Dr. Martin Luther King studies and a very timely addition to school libraries.