|
Women Who Broke
the Rules: Coretta Scott King
by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Laura Freeman
c.2015, Bloomsbury
$16.99 / $19.99 Canada
48 pages
By Terri Schlichenmeyer
The Truth Contributor
Leaders come from surprising places.
The quiet girl that sits the next row over may know how to
inspire people. The know-it-all in your class could own a
business in the future. The kid everybody picks on might
become president. But in the new book Women Who Broke
the Rules: Coretta Scott King by Kathleen Krull,
illustrated by Laura Freeman, you’ll read about one
woman who didn’t necessarily want to be a leader. She
only wanted to sing.
|
 |
|
Born in April 1927, Coretta Scott grew up on her family’s
farm and was “a bit sheltered” as a girl. Still, she was
very aware that some things were unfair, which always made
her angry. Everybody in Marion, Alabama, knew Coretta was a
fighter, that she had “the guts to climb up and over the
Rules,” and that she had a temper, but there was one thing
that calmed her: music.
Because her mother was the church pianist, Coretta was
encouraged to sing solos as a very small child. She was
known to rush through chores so she could spend time with
her music. In high school, she was the school’s most
promising singer-musician. Later, she landed a scholarship
at an Ohio college where she studied music and education,
“in case a career in singing didn’t work out.” From there,
she attended the New England Conservatory of Music in
Boston.
Six months after arriving in Boston, she was introduced to a
man named Martin.
At first, Coretta didn’t think much of Martin Luther King,
Jr. He wasn’t her type, and he was awfully outspoken. On the
other hand, he spun dreams of a wonderful future. Their
dates led her to a church, to a concert, dancing and
eventually to marriage.
But being the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr. wasn’t always
a happy life. Coretta worried about Martin constantly,
though she was proud of him. Their work together on boycotts
was making change, but there was always danger. She could do
what she needed to do, though – as long as she had her
music.
I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by Women
Who Broke the Rules: Coretta Scott King.
So many biographies of King begin with her marriage to
Martin, but author Kathleen Krull starts much earlier,
putting an emphasis on Coretta Scott King’s lifelong love of
music and her desire to have a career, despite that woman
generally didn’t do that sort of thing then. That gives the
story a tone of determination and quiet inspiration, a note
that gets louder as the book progresses. I especially like
that Krull writes at length of Coretta King as a child,
which will resonate with young readers who likely won’t have
any first-hand memories of this remarkable woman.
Don’t feel guilty for enjoying this book before you give it
to your nine-to-12-year-old. It’s a quick and pleasant story
you’ll both like; in fact, if she needs a biography to read
this spring, you can put Women Who Broke the Rules:
Coretta Scott King in the lead.
|
