Midnight Teacher: Lilly Ann Granderson and Her Secret School

Halfmann tells the powerful story of Lily Ann Granderson, an enslaved woman who "believed the path to freedom was through education." Ladd's rich, naturalistic acrylic-and-pencil images depict Granderson's upbringing in Kentucky, where she learned to read and write in secret, then shared her knowledge with other children. As an enslaved adult in Mississippi, Granderson risked punishment by holding night classes in an empty cabin: "Landowners feared that if the enslaved could read, they would discover that some northerners wanted slavery abolished." After the school is discovered, Granderson is shocked to learn that she won't be punished (Halfmann speculates about why she might have escaped punishment in an afterword) and reopens her school, teaching as a free woman for many more years. The painful but uplifting narrative may spark readers' curiosity about other enslaved individuals whose stories have not yet been told. Ages 7-11. Illustrator's agent: Lori Nowicki, Painted Words. (Feb.)

Gr 2-4--A winning tribute to Lilly Ann Granderson, the Midnight Teacher. Granderson, who was enslaved, secretly learned to read and write as a child and passed on this dear knowledge to hundreds of other enslaved people despite the great risks. To avoid the notice and suspicion of white masters and patrollers, she hosted her school in the middle of the night. Halfmann's narrative follows Granderson's life pre-- and post--Civil War, including Granderson's involvement in educating newly freed black people in the South. In the afterword, Halfmann delves further into this hero's legacy: her grandchildren and great-grandchild would go on to become college grads, U.S. congressmen, and more. Ladd's illustrations, rendered in acrylic and colored pencil, are realistic and done in an earthy palette of sandy browns and rich greens. Ladd adroitly conveys the tone of the narrative with dioramalike scenes and uses perspective to add intensity. VERDICT A top choice for any library serving elementary school--aged children.--Shira Pilarski, Farmington Community Library, MI