While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement [NOOK Book]

More important every year

When I taught a course in the 1960s for college students, I made the Civil Rights Movement, including all of the events and documents included here, equal to about 1/3 of the course, in addition to Vietnam and the student/counter culture. Even 10-15 years ago, most of the material was news to students, and today the popularity of The Help, an extremely mild version of the racist culture of the south in that time, has been a huge jolt to not only the young, but older people who were only marginally aware even in the 60s of what the problems were like in the black community aside from the desire to vote and to end segregation in spite of white southern resistance to those things. This book is even more important than The Help; it describes the atmosphere of fear that surrounded southern black communities, and puts the main event, the bombing of the 16th St. Baptist Church of Birmingham, Alabama, in 1963, in that context. It continues past that time to detail not only continuing racism and violence, but the terrible aftermath those things created for the participants. Carolyn Maull McKinstry speaks about her PTSD and her emotional problems for many years after she came within a few feet of death that September in 1963. Just as I did in class, she splices in with her narrative the actual speeches and news reports and photos of the day, to make it more immediate. Very highly recommended, and an easy read even for high school.

6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.

I AM THANKFUL!

I was already familiar with the subject matter of this book prior to receiving it as a Christmas gift. I have maintained a healthy interest in the Civil Rights Movement. I once attended a service at the 16th St. Baptist Church in Birmingham, AL. I previously conducted research on the bombing which occurred on September 15, 1963. Thus, I was eager to read this piece.
I expected this work to be outstanding, and it was outstanding. The writing was simple. I thought this was an asset, because this story covers a part of history that should be exposed to young people at an early age. The storyline was out of sequence. Some have not liked this, but I thought it was an effective tool for keeping one's interest. The language was intimate. Even though, I have never met Mrs. McKinstry, I felt as though she was talking to me directly. The author skillfully intertwined her personal story with the history of Birmingham and the current events of the U S A during that era. Through all of this, she provided a unique perspective (that was new to me) on a most crucial event that occurred in our nation's recent past.
This work gave a personal narrative on being a victim of the Jim Crow Laws. It gave a detailed insight on how it was to be teenaged footsoldier marching for justice in the South. It gave a first hand account of what an individual experienced while standing in the midst of a terrorist attack. Yet amazingly, this story told how one can be healed from the devastating effects of all of this. I sensed that writing this book was part of the healing process for the writer.
I highly recommend this book. It is a classic of English Literature. It should be sold in every church bookstore. Mrs. McKinstry does forgive. However, I will never forget!

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

Great intro to racial injustice

While the World Watched by Carolyn Maull McKinstry is a great book to learn about racial injustice in the south through the story of a young girl who witnessed the bombing of her church and the deaths of 4 of her friends. This is a very readable history of this woman's life and how she was personally affected by the treatment of blacks in the south. I did not feel like the author wanted me to feel guilty for being white, but more like she wanted to get readers thinking about what we do now to love others around us (of any race!). I would recommend this book to anyone interested in stepping into the shoes of someone who lived these injustices; it is simply written and appropriate, I believe, for even younger readers to use as an introduction to the subject.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review

5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.

While The World Watched

It is difficult to imagine what it would have been like to grow up as an African American in the segregated South during the period of Jim Crow Laws. It is conceivable that something as simple as the color of a person's skin could cause such anger, hatred, violence, and unrest between people. These are the circumstances that Carolyn Maul McKinstry grew up in. In her new book, While The World Watched, McKinstry tells her personal story of growing up in what was known as the most segregated city in America, Birmingham, Alabama, during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950's and 60's. She writes from a personal perspective, sharing with the reader how every part of her life was affected by the horrors of segregation. The majority of the world has only the benefit of reading about the struggle of African Americans to secure the most basic rights for themselves. McKinstry lived it. Her book begins with her early childhood describing the security she felt within her family and church life. The pivotal point of the book, and arguably her life, was the bombing of her church, Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham by the Ku Klux Klan. In this bombing, McKinstry lost four of her best friends, and the naivety that people treated each other fairly. This event was her wake-up call to the hard reality that whites did not value the lives of African Americans equally. While The World Watched is a history lesson for us all, as well as a personal memoir of someone who was part of that history. She provides excerpts of famous speeches from those on both sides of the Civil Rights Movement such as Martin Luther King Jr., Governor George Wallace, and President John F. Kennedy. A timeline of events that made up the Civil Rights Movement, vivid photographs, and a sample of the Jim Crow Laws provide the reader with a better perspective of the sin and struggles of segregation. I believe this book is a must read, as some of the feelings of Civil Rights Movement still exist today. This book will sadden you, encourage you, anger you, and challenge you in ways you don't expect. While The World Watched is very well written and definitely worth your time. I received a free copy of the book from Tyndale House in exchange for my honest review.

4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Powerful book.

All the ugly things of the world come together in this wonderfully written book.... fear, hate, death, loss. But the lovely things are in it too.... hope, love, forgiveness. Carolyn's story is powerful. Growing up in Alabama her family does their best to shield her from what the klan is doing in their community. She tells us of a bombing and her life afterwards, how she struggles with grief, disappointment, and trying to understand. I highly recommend this book.

3 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

Hard to put this one down!

While the World Watched tells the story of the 1963 church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama that acted as a spark to ignite the Civil Rights movement. It is a gripping story of one of the teenage survivors of the bombing who lost four of her friends. Through the book she traces her journey as a black woman of the South in from the 1960s to the the present day. The overall theme of the book is the power of love and forgiveness over hate and death. It's one of those rare books I had a hard time putting down (even when I was having trouble staying away because of the late hour at which I often read it!)

One of my favorite parts of the entire book was that throughout the chapters were excerpts of speeches by civil rights activists such as Martin Luther King, Jr. and even President Kennedy. At the end of the book was a brief appendix with actual Jim Crow Laws listed. I'll say that much of what was in the book was new to me. Over my years in education I often commented to my history teachers and professors that we don't teach recent history in school - I was always lucky to get to WWII, yet alone anything post-WWII in school. So while I obviously know of the Civil Rights movement and am familiar with many of the figures of it, this was the first time I read in detail anything about it. For a white man who grew up in the North it gave me a much better appreciation for the struggle faced by black Americans over the last half-century.

I would give the book five out of five stars, but there were times I struggled with following the storyline because it didn't always tell it chronologically - and so at times I had to go back and re-read a few pages because I got confused when the timeline switched. That minor frustration, though, (and it was minor) is my only complaint. I'll give it a solid 4.5/5 stars.

I received this book free from Tyndale Publishers as part of their Blogger Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commision's 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Great eye opening book!

Imagine going to church on Sunday, walking up the stairs to the sanctuary. Seconds later, a bomb explodes right where you just walked. This is the story of Carolyn Maull McKinstry. She records her personal account of the 16th st Birmingham Church Bombing, along with many other personal happenings of racial injustice. She wrote everything from her view, what it was like to almost be killed, how terrifying it was to wake up to the sound of a bomb, and how hard it was to forgive the men who had done the bigoted act. She spoke of her longing to go to a public swimming pool, or an amusement park closed to people of other ethnicity. An eye opening book indeed.

I loved this book, I thought it was a very well written book, and it really opened my eyes to dastardly segregation of the 1960s. I could not believe the racial norm, how hate filled white people were; it was almost as if I had opened a time capsule to a time where no one but white people had value. I learned so much in this book that I never knew. So many colored people were killed, yet rarely was anyone convicted of murder. One of the things I found interesting was that nearly every person who had murdered someone without being caught had died of a sickness before another trial could be held.

Pros: I loved reading her view on the important civil rights dates, and it was very eye opening. It was a phenomenal story of overcoming hatred; on both sides of the spectrum.
Con: The only thing I disliked was not actually the book; rather, it was the layout. I did not love that the speeches were scattered in between the paragraphs. I liked reading the speeches, but it was hard to stop in the middle of Carolyn's sentence, read a speech, and then pick up where you left off.

Overall, I loved it! It was a great book, with a great story of forgiveness weaved into every chapter.

I would recommend this book to anyone over 15, {or a little younger, depending on the maturity and the gender} It was quite graphic in some areas, but it probably wouldn't affect a boy as much as a girl, and some 12 year olds are just tough :)

3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Wonderfully written, great read!

I received this book to read from the Tyndale Blog Reviewer Network. I was not required to give this book a positive review, these are my true opinions.

This wonderfully written book leads you through Carolyn Maull McKinstry's life as she comes to terms with the loss and her hatred and comes to forgiveness through the Lord. Her road was not smooth or quick, but it led her to where she was meant to be. I received this book to review while I was going through a Sunday School class on forgiveness and how when we forgive others as God forgave us, we are in his grace. I really loved this book, I had a difficult time putting it down. I would recommend this to anyone whether or not they have an interest in the history of our Civil Rights Movement.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

While the World Watched by Carolyn McKinstry,(with) Denise George

I thought this book was an excellent book of a woman's eyewitness view of the Birmingham Bombing during the Civil Rights movement when she was a teenager and how she witnessed the deaths of her best friends.
Carolyn has tried to forget that awful day five decades ago on Sunday, September 15th, 1963.The human injustices and the assassinations of those who spoke out for a change.
I really loved how she put this book together and all of Martin Luther King Jr's speaches she included, she also included in the front of the book a wonderful timeline of the events that happened during the movement. As I read this book I felt as if I was there going through the experience with her.I would recomend this book for all to read !!
** I recieved this book for free from Tyndale for being a book blogger**

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Excellent Book

While the World Watched, is a story about a survivor, Carolyn McKinstry, of the Birmingham bombing. History books do not do justice for what happened doing the civil right movement but a book like this penetrates a person deep so they will not forget. I truly believe that history could or would be repeated if a person does not become astute about it. Having grown up in Texas and moved to Alabama a few years ago I was not fully aware of the tragedy that happened in Birmingham and other areas (cities and states). This book opened my eyes to apart of America history that is really unpleasant. By no means should this history be hidden but people with courage like Carolyn McKinstry these stories and history will never be forgotten.

The first-hand account of Carolyn McKinstry gives the read a glance of life during the civil rights movement. It shows how parents tried to protect their families, how children tried to live a "normal" life and how awful people can be to other people. Another aspect of the book I liked was the incorporation of speeches, Kennedys and Martin Luther King Jr, during that time of frame. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Tyndale House Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book.

2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

Very inspiring read

As the World Watched tells the story of Carolyn Maull McKinstry's life growing up during the height of the Civil Rights torn south. From the first page, the reader is given a glimpse into what it was like to live as an African American in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s. The central event of the book is the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing in1963, but McKinstry details many other incidents of Civil Rights unrest in the deep south.

I really enjoyed this book. McKinstry's writing style was easy to follow, and I found myself gaining a better understanding of the depth of the Civil Rights problem in the south. I especially appreciated her candid discussion of her faith in God, and how forgiving those who wronged her, changed her life. The one thing that I did not like was the back and forth style at the beginning of the book, going from discussing different characters and events, to the day of the bombing, and back. It would have been easier to follow if she had just started from the beginning and led up to the bombing.

Overall, it was a great book, and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves history and desires a deeper understanding of historical events.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Forgiveness is the Path to Freedom

Riveting. That's the first word I can think of to describe this book. It was extremely well written.

Mrs. McKinstry was a young teenager attending Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama during the Civil Rights movement. She was at church the day of the bombing. The girls who died were her friends. Mrs. McKinstry's life was changed that day, as were the lives of all those who were at the church that morning.

After the tragedy and then the travesty of justice that transpired thereafter, Mrs. McKinstry tried to go on with her life. She had trouble sleeping. She became withdrawn. She was no longer as interested in her studies. Mrs. McKinstry explains the way she met her husband and his gentleness and patience with her. She weaves a story of the sorrows of her life and the grace provided by the loves in her life.

Suddenly one day she realized something her grandfather had said years before. That realization gave her strength to call on God and believe for change in her own life. Through a long process, she began to forgive. Now she works to bring about forgiveness all over the US.

I found the entire book to be compelling.

I received this book free from Tyndale Press in exchange for a truthful review of the book. Thank you, Tyndale, for allowing me to read this book. It was a compelling read.

2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

Awesome

Cool story

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

crappy book

Not a good book not entertaining

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Highly recommended -- A journey of healing for all of us

This is an excellent documentation of the tragic event that brought so many of us to our knees in disbelief. The nation was forced to face the ugliness of a society filled with hate. The writer takes us on her journey of understanding and reconciliation and thereby reminds us that only love can heal a broken people. Thank you

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Wonderfully Written Beautiful story

While the World Watched gives the unique viewpoints of not just a child but a first hand account of the bombing, a personal account of how these events effected her whole life. I enjoyed this book a lot. I had a little bit of a hard time following sometimes because there was a lot of date jumping in spots but it definitely did not take away from the story. This book was about non violence, peace, love, and ultimately forgiveness. Also in this book were speeches and quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr,whom Carolyn got to hear and speak to first hand, speeches and quotes also from John and Bobby Kennedy. This book is a must read for the young and old about a time in our history that is very important to know about. I highly recommend this book.
I received this book free from Tyndale publishing for my honest review of it

1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

A memory from the racist South

There is a lot of complaining about the author jumping back and forth. I found that this made me care about the story. The author is having a conversation with the reader, and it is how she recalls the past. I find it hard to comprehend the racism from this time. The author was able to let me see this in a small way, from her recollections. The heart of this book is forgiveness for injustices that are unforgiveable. This is a lesson that lets the author get her life back after being a part of a tradgedy.

I can't recomend this book enough.

Really great Civil Rights era book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this insight into life during that era. I had no idea how hard the Civil Rights era was for African-Americans! This book is far from some dry old history book; it is the real and emotional story of a woman who has seen life from a very different angle that most of us see it through. This is more than a social studies lesson; it is a life lesson. Don't just read this book, share it with your friends and make this world a better place!

Fascinating

This was quite an educational book about the Civil Rights movement. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know firsthand about how bigotry effects people on a very personal level. It is easy to read, if you can actually stomach the violence towards people who are only guilty of being born with a particular skin color. It totally supports my personal horror of racism and bigotry.

Good History read.

I like reading books bout history in this sort. Didnt care for it in school or if we did read it I was either talking or just not listening lol. Shows you how much you change when you grow up lol.

0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.