Sweet Justice
Georgia Gilmore and the Montgomery Bus Boycott
words by Mara Rockliff
pictures by R. Gregory Christie
Random House Studio, 2022. 36 pages.
Review written February 1, 2023, from a library book
Starred Review
2023 Sibert Medal Honor Book
Sweet Justice is a Sibert Honor-winning picture book telling a behind-the-scenes story from the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Georgia Gilmore was a cook in a restaurant who fed plenty of white people in Montgomery, Alabama, even though they only allowed white people to be waitresses. She hadn’t ridden a Montgomery bus since a driver made her get out and then drove off before she could go in the back door, even though she’d paid her fare. When the Montgomery Bus Boycott started up, she now had people walking with her.
But the movement needed money for various things, such as gas for cars driving people to work. So Georgia sold her cooking and baked goods at meetings.
When Martin Luther King, Jr. went on trial for organizing the boycott, Georgia spoke in his defense, telling about how she’d been kicked off a bus. After her picture appeared in the paper, she lost her job. Dr. King encouraged her to start a business selling food out of her home. He ended up bringing many leaders to her home for food during secret meetings.
The story is so interestingly told — about an ordinary woman doing ordinary things to help change the country. The paintings by R. Gregory Christie show a woman who seems like a real person you’d like to meet.
Here’s another story of a quiet, ordinary, and strong way to stand for justice.
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