Book Review: While the World Watched by Catherine Maull McKinstry

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 :)

I was provided with a free copy of this book from Tyndale Publishers Blog Network, and they did not ask me to write a positive review, only an honest one.



Sincerely,