Someday Is Now: Clara Luper and the 1958 Oklahoma City Sit-Ins

NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People selection
Penn GSE’s Best Books for Young Readers selection

More than a year before the Greensboro sit-ins, a teacher named Clara Luper led a group of young people to protest the segregated Katz Drug Store by sitting at its lunch counter. With simple, elegant art, Someday Is Now tells the inspirational story of this unsung hero of the Civil Rights Movement, and challenges young people to ask how they will stand up against something they know is wrong. Kids are inspired to follow the lessons of bravery taught by civil rights pioneers like Clara Luper.
This moving title includes additional information on Clara Luper’s extraordinary life, her lessons of nonviolent resistance, and a glossary of key civil rights people and terms.

Reviews
“Not only does this book highlight an important civil rights activist, it can serve as an introduction to child activism as well as the movement itself. Valuable.”
―Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Rhuday-Perkovich powerfully teaches young readers that standing up sometimes means standing out. A top addition to nonfiction collections.”
―Lauren Younger, School Library Journal, Starred Review

“An authentic tribute to a brave and compassionate activist.”
―Publishers Weekly

“The story’s drama is inherent, and readers may well be inspired by the difference people—even young ones—can make.”
―Booklist

“Introduce students to the activism of Clara Luper, an African American high school teacher who organized lunch counter sit-ins for her students to protest segregation in 1958. The narrative functions as a history lesson and as a guide for when and how to challenge injustice (now and with nonviolent direct action). The author does not shy away from describing the humiliating abuse the children suffered during the sit-in. The artist shows images of Black children covered in food while white patrons yell, throw, and shake their fists. The art is simple but stunning.”
―Social Justice Books