Book Report On A Sweet Smell Of Roses

A Sweet Smell of Roses by Angela Johnson tells the story of two young, spirited African American girls who sneak out of their homes in the morning to participate in the march for freedom and justice right beside Martin Luther King Jr. in the Civil Rights Movement during the 1960’s. As the little girl and her sister, Minnie, leave their home, they smell “a sweet smell of roses,” all throughout the story. The sisters are powerful and courageous as the sense of freedom fills the air of change when they arrive in the town to combat against racist barriers alongside other civil rights activists who also believed in social justice and change. As the rally culminates and the little girls return home, they are soon greeted with a worried mother who

In the book, the narrator was motivated to march along Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights activists, despite being only children, having to sneak out of their home for a good cause, and racism. Another character trait that young children can sympathize with is vulnerability. Children are young and helpless to the world’s dangers. For instance, when the children were only “waist high” to the protestors, or when they were confronted by policemen. In the end, the girls were able to run home to their mother and were in a safe and secure place.
One of the main problems that the narrator faces in the book is racism. The narrator, her sister, and African Americans and other people of color are protesting for their civil rights as American citizens. Along the way, they encounter those who desire to be superior than them by not granting them equality. This problem is similar to a difficult obstacle most children have faced before: social acceptance. Society excludes us if we do not fit in their societal standards of looking, being, and way of living. There are qualities that we own that we cannot change, such as our facial features and skin