FREEDOM’S CHILDREN: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell...

FREEDOM’S CHILDREN: Young Civil Rights Activists Tell Their Own Stories edited by Ellen Levine (Avon: $3.99; 204 pp., illustrated). Aimed at juvenile readers, these memoirs offer an inside look at the segregated South and the struggle to reform it. Men and women recall the humiliation of being relegated to the back of the bus or not being allowed to try on clothes at department stores. Their anger lead them to the growing civil rights movement: They took part in boycotts, sit-ins, prayer meetings and Freedom Rides--and braved mob violence, bombings and abuse from law enforcement officers. A worthy addition to any school or family library, “Freedom’s Children” emphasizes the importance of mutual respect among citizens, at a time when many groups continue to fight for equality.