When a formerly segregated North Carolina town hires its first African-American teacher in 1969, two girls--one black, one white--confront the prejudice that challenges their friendship. Includes endnote explaining that the roots of the book are in the author's connection to just such a teacher.

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, cowritten by Dr. Tamara Pizzoli and with illustrations by Keisha Morris, When the Schools Shut Down is a true account...

"A chapter book biography of Ruby Bridges, part of the She Persisted series"--

Dramatizes the events leading from a school bus controversy in Clarendon County, South Carolina to the landmark Supreme Court ruling against school segregation in Brown vs. The Board of Education in 1954.

"Since 1896, in the landmark outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson, the doctrine of "separate but equal" had been considered acceptable under the United States Constitution. African American and white populations were thus segregated, attending different schools, living in different neighborhoods, and even drinking from different water fountains -- so long as the separated facilities were deemed of comparable quality. However, as African Americans found themselves...

"In 1954, after the passing of Brown v Board, one county in southern Virginia chose to close its public schools rather than integrate. Those public schools stayed closed for five years. This was the reality of the people of Prince Edward County. When theaffluent white population of Prince Edward County built a private school--for white children only--they left Black children and their families with very few options. Some Black children were home schooled...