Just Like Martin

by Ossie Davis

Joining the local efforts for Civil Rights in their 1960s Deep South community, fourteen-year-old Ike Stone and his companions are proud of their part in the movement until two of their friends are killed in a racial bombing incident. Reprint.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Young Adult, Fiction, Historical

215 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published October 1, 1992

About the author

Ossie Davis was born Raiford Chatman Davis, a son of Kince Charles Davis, a railway construction engineer, and his wife Laura Cooper. The name Ossie came from a county clerk who misheard his mother's pronunciation of his initials "R.C." when he was born. Following the wishes of his parents, he attended Howard University but dropped out in 1939 to fulfill his acting career in New York; he later attended Columbia University School of General Studies. His acting career, which spanned seven decades, began in 1939 with the Rose McClendon Players in Harlem. He made his film debut in 1950 in the Sidney Poitier film No Way Out. He voiced Anansi the spider on the PBS children's television series Sesame Street in its animation segments.

Davis experienced many of the same struggles that most African American actors of his generation underwent; he wanted to act but he did not want to play stereotypical subservient roles, such as a butler, that was the standard for black actors of his generation. Instead, he tried to follow the example of Sidney Poitier and play more distinguished characters. When he found it necessary to play a Pullman porter or a butler, he tried to inject the role with a certain degree of dignity.

In 2003, both Ossie Davis and his wife Ruby Dee starred and narrated in the HBO film Unchained Memories, a tribute to the WPA slave narratives.

Reviews

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A heart-felt story about non-violent Civil Rights efforts in Alabama.

[Judy E. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ossie Davis writes a junior novel about the teens who marched with Dr. King, and especially about the difficulties of following Dr. King's emphasis on non-violent protest.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely factionalized

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ossie Davis' first novel, and I thought it was really well done in giving some of the reasons for and difficulties of non-violence.

[Abby · Rating 5 out of 5]

How would you like it if you got judged all of the time because of your race? What if people judged you like a book cover? That is what most of the characters have to go through in this book. Would you be able to go on, being non-violent?

An African American boy, at the age of about fourteen, is going through many tough decisions, especially at this time in life. His mother had died when he was about eight, then and now his father still doesn't talk to him, and he has to deal with him saying bad things about his favorite preacher, Martin Luther King Jr. His father wasn't always like that, but he fought a war in Korea, and came back a changed man. But his son, the fourteen year old boy, has promised to be non-violent for his whole life, no matter what happens.

The children at his church are having a class for non-violence, but something went wrong, something happened that nobody ever thought would happen, because it was so terrible. The church got bombed by some white children wanting to hurt tons of children. Lots of their classmates got badly injured, or even killed. The rest of the children decide they are going to have their own march for their classmates. So they call up Martin Luther King Jr., and see if he could say some words for their fellow classmates, but something more common, yet still terrible happened. White police, with dogs and billy clubs came, and hurt the children and everyone there. What will they do to stand up for themselves, and will it work?

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Isaac Stone is almost fourteen, living in Alabama in 1963, active in his church, and idolizing Dr. King The story covers the time period from the March on Washington [for Jobs and Freedom] to the assassination of President Kennedy.

From the title and target age group, I expected this book to have a simple, inspiring story line. And while it does only highlight the very famous, feel-good moments from the "I Have a Dream" speech, the story line itself is unflinching. Isaac's father is a Korean War veteran who doesn't care for King and doesn't believe in nonviolence. Isaac struggles with his vow to emulate King, and with his father's silence. Two of his classmates die in a church bombing, and the youth of his parish come together to do their own march.

8/69 tbr box

[Erin May · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kate is reading this at school. I thought it was a good way to introduce fifth graders to the Civil Rights Movement and the happenings in our country in 1963. Isaac Stone is a good example for children.

[Audrey W · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading this book. It is a good book overall. It talks about many things that I didn't know. People had to go through to get freedom. Also some sad things people go through in there personal life.

[Rachael T Bailey]

i liked this book alot because hate can never turn done hate

[Kayla Watkins]

This book was really good and interesting and it was not a real situation.