Memphis, Martin, and the Mountaintop: The Sanitation Strike of 1968, Hardcover

Contributor(s):

• Author: Alice Faye Duncan
• Illustrator: R. Gregory Christie

"(A) history that everyone should know: required and inspired." - Kirkus Reviews, starred review

This historical fiction picture book presents the story of nine-year-old Lorraine Jackson, who in 1968 witnessed the Memphis sanitation strike--Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s final stand for justice before his assassination--when her father, a sanitation worker, participated in the protest.

In February 1968, two African American sanitation workers were killed by unsafe equipment in Memphis, Tennessee. Outraged at the city's refusal to recognize a labor union that would fight for higher pay and safer working conditions, sanitation workers went on strike. The strike lasted two months, during which Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was called to help with the protests. While his presence was greatly inspiring to the community, this unfortunately would be his last stand for justice. He was assassinated in his Memphis hotel the day after delivering his "I've Been to the Mountaintop" sermon in Mason Temple Church. Inspired by the memories of a teacher who participated in the strike as a child, author Alice Faye Duncan reveals the story of the Memphis sanitation strike from the perspective of a young girl with a riveting combination of poetry and prose.
 
Review citations

• Publishers Weekly - 07/16/2018
• Kirkus Reviews / Best Of The Best/Highly Recommended - pg. 104 - 07/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews / Exceptional Presentation - pg. 104 - 07/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews / Book Of Special Distinction - pg. 104 - 07/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews / Top 15 Book Of The Year - pg. 104 - 07/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews / Highly Recommended - pg. 104 - 07/15/2018
• Booklist / Best Of The Best/Highly Recommended - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018
• Booklist / Exceptional Presentation - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018
• Booklist / Book Of Special Distinction - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018
• Booklist / Top 15 Book Of The Year - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018
• Booklist / Highly Recommended - pg. 60 - 08/01/2018
• Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview / Best Of The Best/Highly Recommended - pg. 53 - 08/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview / Exceptional Presentation - pg. 53 - 08/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview / Book Of Special Distinction - pg. 53 - 08/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview / Top 15 Book Of The Year - pg. 53 - 08/15/2018
• Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview / Highly Recommended - pg. 53 - 08/15/2018
• Shelf Awareness - 08/28/2018