August 2022 Book Club: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

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

By Yolanda Gladden, Dr. Tamara Pizzoli and illustrated by Keisha Morris.

This is an autobiography by Yolanda Gladden, an African-American girl who did not go to school for five years after the landmark civil rights case of Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka. Many people think that the 1954 landmark decision meant that all public schools would immediately be integrated. Gladden gives an account of white lawmakers in Farmville, Virginia circumvented the law by denying African-American children an education. However, due to a strong community, the children prevailed.

Note: Brown vs Board of Education of Topeka is the case that the US Supreme Court unanimously decided that separating children in public schools based on the color of their skin was no longer legally allowed.

For purchase | Check your local library

Discussion questions:

• Do your children attend school with many students that do not look like them?
• If your child attends a school that is not racially nor religiously diverse do you teach them the culture and lives of others?

Please share your answers and participate in the discussion using the comments area below.