This Generation of Americans: A Story of the Civil Rights Movement

Jamestown's American Portraits

by Fredrick L. McKissack

It is August 1963, and 13-year-old Clayton Banks is a month away from starting high school. If life were simply about playing baseball, Clayton's life would be perfect. But the Civil Rights Movement is changing the world around him, and Clayton not only wants to understand it, he wants to participate. His brother, John-Two, home from college, exposes Clayton to the movement's ideals of nonviolence as well as the reality of the violence directed at its members. John-Two's beliefs are a catalyst for Clayton to discover what he belives in. The young men's father, a respected dentist, thinks the movement is full of troublemakers, which will only lead to hard times for blacks. Clayton must decide if he wants to degy his father or follow the urgings of his own beliefs. Jamestown’s American Portraits explores the growth of different generations and cultures through the lives of young boys and girls. These titles are told from a diverse group of boys and girls, coming from different and unique backgrounds that represent America’s own diverse population, spanning from the Jamestown Settlement to the Civil Rights Movement.

Titles in this
• This Generation of A Story of the Civil Rights Movement, by Fredrick L. McKissack, Jr.
• The Road to A Story of the Reconstruction, by Jabari Asim
• All For A Story of Texas Liberation, by G. Clifton Wisler
• The Worst of A Story of the Great Depression, by James Lincoln Collier
• Wind on the A Story of the Civil War, by Laurie Lawlor
• When I Dream of Angelina’s Story, by Steven Kroll (1895 Italian Immigrant in NYC)
• An Eye for an A Story of the Revolutionary War, by Peter and Connie Roop
• Sweet An Immigrant’s Story, by Steven Kroll
• The Corn A Story of the Jamestown Settlement, by James Lincoln Colli

152 pages, Paperback

First published February 12, 2001

About the author

African-American children's book writer, known for his collaboration with his wife, Patricia C. McKissack, on over a hundred books for children about the history of African Americans.

Husband of author Patricia C. McKissack
Father of author Fredrick L. McKissack Jr.