Blog Entry #22

Freedom School, Yes!

By Amy Littlesugar

Illustrated by Floyd Cooper

Philomel Books, 2001

37 pages

Historical Fiction

 

Freedom School, Yes! was a great book that is accurate to the civil rights movement of the 1960's. This book is about a young, black girl named Jolie and her family. Her mother decides to let a white school teacher, named Annie, from up north come live in their home. Annie is going to start teaching school in Chicken Creek. Jolie and her family knew the dangers of letting Annie stay with them, and several things happened that struck fear into the family and the community. Annie, nor the community, let those things stop them from their mission.

This book has beautiful illustrations that depict the events of the story well. The black southern culture is reflected beautifully. The medium used for the illustrations seems to be pastels, because the texture looks chalky or like crayons. The colors and lines are very soft, but the texture is rough looking in the illustrations. I believe the illustrations do a great job of capturing the struggles, pain, joy, and the abundant history of the characters in the story.

Freedom School, Yes! is a book that is appropriate for third through fifth grades. It would be great for a read aloud or independent reading. Obviously, it would be a wonderful addition to a social studies or cultural lesson. The students could make meaningful connections to the characters while learning about a time in history. I think this book would be great choice to use for reader's theater in a classroom. This book has no awards or honors.