Based on extensive interviews with Claudette Colvin and many others, Phillip Hoose presents the first in-depth account of an important yet largely unknown civil rights figure, skillfully weaving her dramatic story into the fabric of the historic Montgomery bus boycott and court case that would change the course of American history.

First cry: Jim Crow and the detested number ten -- Coot -- "We seemed to hate ourselves" -- "It's my constitutional right!" -- "There's the girl who got arrested" -- "Crazy" times -- "Another Negro woman has been arrested" -- Second front, second chance -- Playing for keeps: Browder v. Gayle -- Rage in Montgomery -- History's door.