Freedom School, Yes!

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Freedom School, Yes!.jpg

Freedom School, Yes! Was written by Amy Little sugar and illustrated by Floyd Cooper. The book has 48 pages, and it was published in January 15th 2001 by Philomel Books.

Floyd Cooper received a Coretta Scott King Honor for his illustrations in Brown Honey In Broomwheat Tea and I Have Heard Of A Land. Born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mr. Cooper received a degree in fine arts from the University of Oklahoma. In 1984 he came to New York City to pursue a career as an illustrator of books and now lives in Easton, Pennsylvania, with his wife and two sons. [1]

Summary

The story tells about a young African American girl named Jolie, she has a lot to be scared about since the new Freedom School teacher, Annie, came to town. Bricks thrown through windows in the dead of night, notes filled with hate, and now a fire has burnt down the church where Annie was supposed to start teaching tomorrow! Without the church, how can she possibly teach Jolie and the other townspeople about black poets and artists, historians and inventors? Unless the people themselves fight back [2]

Pros

Some comments was made by Good Reads' members online site. The book is historical fiction based on research. More than 600 young people both black and white volunteered for the 1964 Mississippi Summer Project. One of the readers said that this book would be great to read in a 2nd-5th grade classroom. Not only does it discuss diversity, but it is also a historical fiction text. Students can learn about the different events in history that are important to the American culture. It is great to read to the class during Black History month or when talking about history. It teaches a lot of lessons. If you wanted to talk about bravery, standing up for what you believe, value of education, and not giving up. The students will be able to see the many changes from history to now. As an activity to go along with this book, the students could learn more about different historical events that happened like slavery for example. Another activity students could do is to write and reflect about their feelings towards everything that happened to the school and Jolie’s house. They could write about how they think they felt or give them words of encouragement during the rough times. [1]

Kirkus gave a reviewed to this book, they explained that Cooper’s muted, oil-wash illustrations are equally expressive when presenting a close-up of a stern Uncle Shad, admonishing Jolie not to let “bein’ scared” get in her way, as when depicting a long view of Annie teaching under an old hickory tree, the children at her feet and 70-year-old Miss Rosetta in her chair. Some illustrations are not so successful (as when Annie appears to be almost shouting a lesson about Harriet Tubman at Jolie), but this slight unevenness does not mar the effect of the whole. A loving, touching, and inspiring presentation of an often-overlooked chapter of the civil-rights saga. Includes author’s note and bibliography. [3]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Freedom School, Yes! . Retrieved February 10th, 2021
  2. Freedom School, Yes!. Retrieved February 10th, 2021
  3. Freedom School, Yes!. Retrieved February 10th, 2021