The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students

The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students

Written by: Suzanne Jurmain

Junior High and High School Grades

"Jurmain has plucked an almost forgotten incident from history and has shaped a compelling, highly readable book around it. In 1831, Prudence Crandall opened a school for young white ladies. When asked by an African American teenager if she might join the class, Crandall, whose sympathies were with the abolitionists, agreed. So begins a jolting episode in which Crandall turned her school into one for girls of color, and is both tormented and sued by the citizenry of Canterbury, Connecticut, who wanted no part of African Americans in their town. Writing with a sense of drama that propels readers forward (and quoting the language of the day, which includes the word nigger), Jurmain makes painfully clear what Crandall and her students faced, while showing their courage as they stood up to those who tried to deter them. Printed on thick, snowy stock and including a number of sepia-toned and color photographs as well as historical engravings, the book's look will draw in readers. Children will be especially pleased by the appended material, which includes an epilogue that tells what became of the principals, as well as source notes for the many quotes."

American Library Association Review

Awards:
Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Award, 2006
Orbis Pictus Award, 2006

Web Resources:
http://www.cultureandtourism.org/cct/cwp/view.asp?a=2127&q=302260

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl

Written by: Tonya Bolden

Junior High and High School Grades

"Born free in a nation stained by slavery, where free blacks had few rights and rare respect, here was a girl determined to rise, to amount to something." In this captivating biography, Bolden introduces Maritcha Reymond Lyon, born in the mid-1800s into a family of free blacks in Manhattan. Lyon found fame as a teenager in Providence, Rhode Island, when she sued the state to gain admission to the all-white high school--the only high school in town. Bolden's succinct text focuses on Lyon's growing-up, and the attractive spreads feature well-chosen archival photographs and engravings that offer a fascinating glimpse of Lyon's world of "New York City's striving class of blacks." Lyon had a distinguished family, and Bolden shows how its members inspired her to succeed against formidable odds, even when she felt that "the iron had entered my soul." Bolden supplements quotes from Lyon's accounts with extensive research and enthralling detail, and the result is both an inspirational portrait of an individual and a piercing history about blacks in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries--subjects rarely covered in books for youth. An author's note describes Lyon's adult achievements and lends insight into Bolden's research. Notes and a selected bibliography conclude this powerful volume."

Booklist Review

Awards:
Coretta Scott King Honor Book, 2006
Blue Ribbon Nonfiction Book Award, 2006

Web Resources:
http://www.tonyaboldenbooks.com/maritcha_a_nineteenth-century_american_girl.html