An inspiring biography about the woman whose cooking helped feed and fund the Montgomery bus boycott of 1956.
Georgia Gilmore was cooking when she heard the news Mrs. Rosa Parks had been arrested--pulled off a city bus and thrown in jail all because she wouldn't let a white man take her seat. To protest, the radio urged everyone to stay off city buses for one day: December 5, 1955. Throughout the boycott--at Holt Street Baptist Church meetings led by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr.--and throughout the struggle for justice, Georgia served up her mouth-watering fried chicken, her spicy collard greens, and her sweet potato pie, eventually selling them to raise money to help the cause.
Here is the vibrant true story of a hidden figure of the civil rights movement, told in flavorful language by a picture-book master.
SELECTION
| 2025 Texas Topaz Reading List
HONOR
| 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Book
A ROBERT F. SIBERT HONOR BOOK
"Compelling… both narratively and artistically." —The New York Times Book Review
★ "Offering an outstanding take on the Montgomery Bus Boycott from a fresh perspective, this is an essential purchase." —School Library Journal, starred review
★ "Christie’s richly colorful, expressive gouache paintings bring the bus boycott into focus while depicting Gilmore as the text portrays her: a down-to-earth hero who used her considerable talent, energy, and courage to work for justice." —Booklist, starred review
Mara Rockliff is the author of numerous historical books for children. Previous titles include Mesmerized, winner of the Cook Prize and Orbis Pictus Honor, and Sweet Justice, which received a Sibert Honor. She lives in western Massachusetts.
View titles by Mara Rockliff
An inspiring biography about the woman whose cooking helped feed and fund the Montgomery bus boycott of 1956.
Georgia Gilmore was cooking when she heard the news Mrs. Rosa Parks had been arrested--pulled off a city bus and thrown in jail all because she wouldn't let a white man take her seat. To protest, the radio urged everyone to stay off city buses for one day: December 5, 1955. Throughout the boycott--at Holt Street Baptist Church meetings led by a young minister named Martin Luther King, Jr.--and throughout the struggle for justice, Georgia served up her mouth-watering fried chicken, her spicy collard greens, and her sweet potato pie, eventually selling them to raise money to help the cause.
Here is the vibrant true story of a hidden figure of the civil rights movement, told in flavorful language by a picture-book master.
Awards
SELECTION
| 2025 Texas Topaz Reading List
HONOR
| 2023 Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Honor Book
Reviews
A ROBERT F. SIBERT HONOR BOOK
"Compelling… both narratively and artistically." —The New York Times Book Review
★ "Offering an outstanding take on the Montgomery Bus Boycott from a fresh perspective, this is an essential purchase." —School Library Journal, starred review
★ "Christie’s richly colorful, expressive gouache paintings bring the bus boycott into focus while depicting Gilmore as the text portrays her: a down-to-earth hero who used her considerable talent, energy, and courage to work for justice." —Booklist, starred review
Author
Mara Rockliff is the author of numerous historical books for children. Previous titles include Mesmerized, winner of the Cook Prize and Orbis Pictus Honor, and Sweet Justice, which received a Sibert Honor. She lives in western Massachusetts.
View titles by Mara Rockliff
