The main Rosa Parks biography book for adults is The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis, a New York Times bestseller that won the 2014 NAACP Image Award. Other titles include Rosa Parks: My Story, Rosa Parks: A Life, the picture book Rosa, and a young readers edition.
What Are the Main Rosa Parks Biography Books?
The main Rosa Parks biography books are 5 titles written for adults, teens, and children. The table below lists each title. The left column gives the title. The second column names the author. The third column gives the publication year. The right column names the audience.
| Title | Author | Year | Audience |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks | Jeanne Theoharis | 2013 | Adults |
| Rosa Parks: My Story | Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins | 1992 | Ages 10 and up |
| Rosa Parks: A Life | Douglas Brinkley | 2000 | Adults |
| Rosa | Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier | 2005 | Children |
| Rosa Parks (Young Readers Edition) | Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert | 2021 | Ages 12 and up |
Who Was Rosa Parks?
Rosa Parks was an American civil rights activist, born in 1913 and died in 2005, who refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus on December 1, 1955. Her action sparked the Montgomery bus boycott. Her activism lasted about 60 years, according to the publisher of Theoharis’s biography.
What Is The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks About?
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks is a political biography by historian Jeanne Theoharis that covers about 60 years of Rosa Parks’s activism. The book challenges the popular view of Parks as a quiet seamstress. It describes her work in both the North and the South, according to Beacon Press and Penguin Random House.
Theoharis is a Distinguished Professor of Political Science at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York. The book won the 2014 NAACP Image Award and the Letitia Woods Brown Award from the Association of Black Women Historians. It also inspired a Peabody Award-winning documentary.
What Is Rosa Parks: My Story About?
Rosa Parks: My Story is an autobiography by Rosa Parks with Jim Haskins, published by Dial Books on February 3, 1992. Kirkus Reviews classifies it as an autobiography for ages 10 and up. The book is about 200 pages.
According to Publishers Weekly, Parks describes 5 topics:
- Her early family life
- Her schooling
- Her encounters with white children
- Her marriage to Raymond Parks
- Her role in the Montgomery NAACP and the civil rights movement
What Is Rosa Parks: A Life About?
Rosa Parks: A Life by Douglas Brinkley is a biography covering Parks’s life from childhood to death. Readers on Goodreads describe it as a concise biography written by a historian. Brinkley is a historian and the author of The Great Deluge and The Wilderness Warrior.
What Is the Picture Book Rosa About?
Rosa is a picture book by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier and published by Henry Holt in 2005. It retells Parks’s bus refusal and the events that followed. It is a 2006 Caldecott Honor Book and the 2006 winner of the Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award.
Which Rosa Parks Books Suit Children and Teens?
Three Rosa Parks books suit younger readers, ordered by reading level:
- Rosa (picture book for children)
- Rosa Parks: My Story (autobiography for ages 10 and up)
- Rosa Parks, Young Readers Edition (biography for ages 12 and up)
The young readers edition adapts Theoharis’s adult biography for teens. Theoharis wrote it with Brandy Colbert. Kirkus Reviews named it a Best YA Biography and Memoir of 2021.
Which Books Did Rosa Parks Write?
Rosa Parks wrote or co-wrote 2 books: Rosa Parks: My Story (1992) and Quiet Strength. My Story is an autobiography with Jim Haskins. Quiet Strength is a collection of inspirational ideas and essays, according to Goodreads reviewers. Parks co-wrote it with Gregory J. Reed.
What Awards Have Rosa Parks Biography Books Won?
Rosa Parks biography books have won 5 awards and honors. The table below lists each book, the award, and the year. The left column names the book. The middle column names the honor. The right column gives the year.
| Book | Award or honor | Year |
|---|---|---|
| The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks | NAACP Image Award | 2014 |
| The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks | Letitia Woods Brown Award, Association of Black Women Historians | Not stated in source |
| Rosa | Caldecott Honor | 2006 |
| Rosa | Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award | 2006 |
| Rosa Parks (Young Readers Edition) | Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Books; Kirkus Best YA Biography and Memoir | 2021 |
People Also Ask
What Is the Most Popular Rosa Parks Biography?
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks by Jeanne Theoharis is a New York Times bestseller and won the 2014 NAACP Image Award.
Did Rosa Parks Write an Autobiography?
Rosa Parks wrote the autobiography Rosa Parks: My Story with Jim Haskins, published by Dial Books in 1992.
Which Rosa Parks Book Is Best for Children?
Rosa by Nikki Giovanni and Bryan Collier is a picture book about Rosa Parks and a 2006 Caldecott Honor Book.
Who Wrote Rosa Parks: My Story?
Rosa Parks wrote Rosa Parks: My Story with Jim Haskins.
Is There a Rosa Parks Book for Teens?
Rosa Parks, Young Readers Edition, by Jeanne Theoharis and Brandy Colbert is written for ages 12 and up.
When Did Rosa Parks Refuse to Give Up Her Seat?
Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama.
Which Rosa Parks Biography Book Fits Each Reader?
The right Rosa Parks biography book depends on the reader’s age and purpose. The 5 main titles cover 4 reader groups:
- Adults seeking a political biography: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
- Adults seeking a concise life story: Rosa Parks: A Life
- Readers seeking Parks’s own account: Rosa Parks: My Story
- Children and teens: Rosa and the Young Readers Edition
Sources
- Penguin Random House: The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks and the Young Readers Edition
- Kirkus Reviews: Rosa Parks: My Story (February 3, 1992)
- Publishers Weekly: Rosa Parks: My Story (February 3, 1992)
- Macmillan Publishers: Rosa by Nikki Giovanni
- Library catalog records: Rosa (Henry Holt, 2005) and Rosa Parks: My Story (Dial Books, 1992)
- Wikipedia: Bryan Collier
- Goodreads: Rosa Parks: A Life by Douglas Brinkley