by Yolanda Gladden (Author) Keisha Morris (Illustrator)
An awe-inspiring autobiographical picture book about a young African American girl who lived during the shutdown of public schools in Farmville, Virginia, following the landmark civil rights case Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka.
Most people think that the Brown vs. Board of Education decision of 1954 meant that schools were integrated with deliberate speed. But the children of Prince Edward County located in Farmville, Virginia, who were prohibited from attending formal schools for five years knew differently, including Yolanda.
Told by Yolanda Gladden herself, co-written by Dr. Tamara Pizzoli and with illustrations by Keisha Morris, When the Schools Shut Down is a true account of the unconstitutional effort by white lawmakers of this small Virginia town to circumvent racial justice by denying an entire generation of children an education. Most importantly, it is a story of how one community triumphed together, despite the shutdown.
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Acknowledging the importance of oral history in African diasporic traditions, this nonfiction account by Gladden (b. 1954), transcribed by Pizzoli, offers an engaging, community care-centered examination of segregation in the Virginia school system before and after Brown v. Board of Education. Four years after the decision was handed down, when Gladden was to begin school, officials closed every public school in her county to avoid integrating the institutions. The community reacted by creating its own schools. Pizzoli's rhythmic prose drives the narrative forward: "When Yolanda's mama and Aunt Dorothy graduated from high school in 1953, the conditions of public schools in Prince Edward County were still separate, still unequal, and still unfair." Collaged tissue paper and digital media art by Morris offers a lushly layered backdrop to the events, emphasizing the expressions and closeness of the Black community portrayed in this informative, warmly personable autobiography. Back matter features notes from the authors, a timeline of desegregation of the American school system, and sources and further reading. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)
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