Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-ins

A young African American girl describes her experiences living in Greensboro, North Carolina during the 1960 civil rights sit-ins.

The book would be a great way to consider how children during the Civil Rights Movement perceived what occurred.

A portrait of the 1960 Civil rights sit-ins at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, as seen through the eyes of a young Southern black girl.

The civil rights movement was pivotal in our history, this should not have to be stated. However, most students learn about it only in passing, as the history curriculum in schools still tends to end just after WWII. Even treating this through picture books is better than that.

This book, featuring

Show More

a young girl whose socially active brother and sister participated in the sit-ins, signed people up to vote, and got arrested for their troubles, takes a good look at the Greensboro sit-ins. I like how the main character acts like a real child - she's proud of her siblings, yes, but she also wants them to stop protesting and stay home and be safe. She's eight years old, and, given the wordiness of the book, that's probably about the right age for the reader.

The artwork is pretty enough, but it would have been better on a larger book. When sitting with a kid in your lap reading with the light dim for bedtime, they end up looking a bit muddled.

Show Less

The setting is Greensboro, North Carolina in the 1960’s. While now it seems crazy that you would not be able to sit down and drink a coke at a store because of the color of your skin, fifty years ago, this was a fact. A seven-year-old girl who wants to be able to eat a banana split sitting down

Show More

at a restaurant tells this story of her family getting involved in protests for equal rights for black people in their town as well as across the southern states. The oil painting illustrations make the reader feel they are part of the era. After reading, I would want the kids to discuss these questions with each other. If no one ever argued for equal rights, if there were no protests, what do you think it would be like today? Do you think there are things worth going to jail for?

Show Less

Summary:
This book is in the eye's of a young African American girl in the 1960's in Greensboro from just prior to the sit-in's at the woolwork's lunch counter to it's ultimate intergration.

Personal Reaction:
This is a very touching book. I think children would really be able to relate to this young

Show More

girl.

Classroom Extentions:
1. Have them write about the 1960's and what life would have been like for them.
2. Talk about the Greensboro Sit-Ins.

Show Less

A story of the segregated South in 1960 told from a child's point of view, gives today's young readers the idea of what it meant to be courageous and stand up for human rights. This piece of critical literature shows readers that we can all become involved in a great cause and stand up for what we

Show More

believe and know is right and true.

Show Less

This is another excellent book about the era of segragation in the South and how 'sit ins' helped to correct the injustices that black Americans faced in their daily lives. This book is a good mentor text and is a book I plan to include in my classroom library.

This is an excellent example of a historical fiction book. It is set in Greensboro North Carolina and tells of the famous sit-in as well as other pickets and protests. It tells accurate historical information but has fictional characters experiencing it.
Art Media: oil paintings
Appropriate Age:

Show More

Primary

Show Less

Freedom on the Menu is told from the point of view of the 9-year-old narrator. She and her mother often shop in downtown. She asks her mother for a banana split, but the counters only serve white patrons. Soon, the book begins to center around the four students from North Carolina A&T who stage a

Show More

sit-in at the Woolworth's lunch counter. These four young men wait for service and sit as they are spit upon, disparaged, and even endure foods being poured on them. The narrator's knows the young men are friends of her brother and soon her older siblings join in with the part of the Children's Movement that takes place in Greensboro as others around the South occur. Even though this is a historical fiction tale, information is included at the back of the book about the real people and events of the Greensboro Sit-ins.

Show Less

Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Appropriateness: Primary/Intermediate
Review: This book is a good example of historical fiction because the story reflects the past and includes accurate historic facts. The story portrays the 1960 civil rights sit-ins at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, NC.

Show More

It offers an informative and vivid picture of what life resembled for African Americans. An 8-year-old girl, Connie, doesn't march or give speeches, but she offers her support and encouragement as she watches her older siblings stand up for their rights.
Media: This book is a good example of oil paint illustrations because the pictures are solid and thick. The paint is applied with a palette, which depicts a blended look. The colors are neutrall and dark, which capture the texts and theme.
Plot: This book is a good example of person against society because the African Americans are fighting for equal rights and change in society. The plot is well developed and clearly portrayed, which keeps readers engaged. Also, the plot is one that readers can connect with and relate to.

Show Less

The book is told through the eyes of eight year old Connie who doesn’t quite understand why there are separate rules for whites and blacks. Her brother and sister become involved in sit-ins and picketing for equal rights, and soon Connie is eating at the lunch counter along with the rest.

This story is told by a young African- American girl. She recalls going to the mall every week with her mother. After shopping, they'd always stop by the snack bar, but they could not sit at the counter with the white people. She tells about the public restrooms, water fountains, and movie theaters

Show More

having "White Only" signs on them. Her parents took her and her older brother and sister to a college to hear Dr. Martin Luther King speak. The kids became determined to fight for colored people's rights. She wasn't allowed to join them in boycotts because she was too young. Her brother's friends sat at white only counters despite the owner's request for them to leave. They made the front page of the newspaper and this encouraged other people to fight for equal rights as well. her sister even got arrested for protesting. She refused to allow her father to bail her out. Her parents supported the girl's older sister. As time went by, things began to change. Colored people were allowed to eat in the same restaurants, attend the same churches, use the same restrooms, etc...as white people. This book is appropriate for third-sixth grade. I would use it in a social studies class while on the topic of civil rights.

Show Less

This historical fiction gives readers an idea of what it was like to protest racism through sit-ins. The author uses the first sit in in North Carolina, which took place in 1960, to continue this story about change, equality, and the simplicity of just wanting to sit down and have a meal. This book

Show More

is appropriate for beginner readers.

Show Less

Eight year old Connie loves to spend time with her mother on Saturdays when they shop and then go to Woolworths for a coke. Standing in the back of the counter, they drink their soda and go home.

Connie wonders why only white people are allowed to sit. When Connie observes four young black men take

Show More

a stand by sitting at the counter in Greensboro, North Caroline, she notes changes is occurrng.

Soon her brother and sister become involved in non violent protests, and they explain that sit ins are happening throughout the south.

Happily, there is a day when she and her entire family go to Woolworths, sit at the counter, order cokes, hot dogs, and she orders a large banana split and smiles as the waitress places extra cherries on top.

Show Less

Picture book that describes the historic Greensboro, NC sit-in from the eyes of 8 year old Connie. Depicts what life was like for African-Americans in 1960 in Greensboro, before the sit-ins at the Woolworth's to integration. A Author's Note provides background information.

Grades: 2-8

Classroom use:

Show More

Segregation and Integration, Civil Rights Movement, African American

Show Less

There were signs all throughout town telling eight-year-old Connie where she could and could not go. But when Connie sees four young men take a stand for equal rights at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, she realizes that things may soon change. This event sparks a

Show More

movement throughout her town and region. And while Connie is too young to march or give a speech, she helps her brother and sister make signs for the cause. Changes are coming to Connie’s town, but Connie just wants to sit at the lunch counter and eat a banana split like everyone else.

Show Less

Through the eyes of eight year old, read how connie tries to understand why she does not have the same rights as everyone else. And her admiration of her family as they overcome the hard times of segration.

Book Review by Goodreads: When four courageous black teens sat down at a lunch counter in the segregated South of 1960, the reverberations were felt both far beyond and close to home. This insightful story offers a child's-eye view of this seminal event in the American Civil Rights Movement. Connie

Show More

is used to the signs and customs that have let her drink only from certain water fountains and which bar her from local pools and some stores, but still . . . she'd love to sit at the lunch counter, just like she's seen other girls do.

Showing how an ordinary family becomes involved in the great and personal cause of their times, it's a tale that invites everyone to celebrate our country's everyday heroes, of all ages.

Show Less