Freedom Riders compares and contrasts the childhoods of John Lewis and
James Zwerg in a way that helps young readers understand the segregated
experience of our nation's past. It shows how a common interest in
justice created the convergent path that enabled these young men to meet
as Freedom Riders on a bus journey south.
No other book on the Freedom Riders has used such a personal
perspective. These two young men, empowered by their successes in the
Nashville student movement, were among those who volunteered to continue
the Freedom Rides after violence in Anniston, Alabama, left the original
bus in flames with the riders injured and in retreat. Lewis and Zwerg
joined the cause knowing their own fate could be equally harsh, if not
worse. The journey they shared as freedom riders through the Deep South
changed not only their own lives but our nation's history.
National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core
Resources.
Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.