Gladden, Yolanda and Tamara Pizzoli. When the Schools Shut Down: A Young Girl’s Story of Virginia’s “Lost Generation” and the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Decision. Keisha Morris, Illus. Non-fiction. HarperCollins, 01/2022. [40]pp. $18.99. 978-0-06-301116-8. ADDITIONAL. GRADES 1-4.
From 1958 to 1964, all public schools in Prince Edward County, Virginia, were closed so they would not have to integrate. Told from the point of view of Yolanda Gladden, who was a child at that time, this gives an interesting look at how the Black community dealt with this move by offering schooling at churches and private homes. The first half covers Gladden’s childhood, and then the text makes a jump to the issue in Prince County. The narrative could be smoother, but it is a useful example of desegregation history. The tissue paper collage artwork is striking and is the strength of the book. Back matter includes a timeline, a bibliography, author’s note, and a few photos. Teri Kanefield’s The Girl From the Tar Paper School: Barbara Rose Johns and the Advent of the Civil Rights Movement (Abrams, 2014) tells some of the same story more effectively.
Penny Peck, San Jose State University, iSchool