The Little Rock Nine Challenge Segregation: Courageous Kids of the Civil Rights Movement

by Myra Faye Turner, Dolo Okecki (Illustrator)

Overview

In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that schools had to allow Black students to attend previously all-white schools. On September 4, 1957, nine Black students were set to attend Little Rock Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas. But when they arrived, an angry mob of white people spat at them and hurled racist insults. They were also prevented from entering the school by the National Guard. After they were finally allowed in weeks later, they faced even more abuse from white students and staff. Discover the courage displayed by the Little Rock Nine as they fought to get an education while enduring terrible racism.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781666334456
Publisher:	Capstone
Publication date:	08/01/2022
Series:	Courageous Kids
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
Lexile:	GN640L (what's this?)
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

About the Author

Myra Faye Turner is a New Orleans-based poet and author. She has written for grownups, but prefers writing for young readers. She has written two dozen nonfiction books for children and young adults, covering diverse topics like politics, the Apollo moon landing, edible insects, and U.S. history. When she’s not writing, she spends her days reading, napping, and drinking coffee.
Dolo was born and raised in Buenos Aires and always loved to draw. As a teen she took an animation course where she discovered the basics of cartooning. After art school and working in studios, she took the leap into illustration and comics! Since starting her career she has illustrated graphic novels, books, and magazines as well as her own graphic novel "Luka's Journey" and one of Capstone´s Courageous Kids titles.

Interviews

Features young, diverse historical figures in empowering roles, aligning with Capstone's mission that "Reading Is For Everyone!";

Editorial Reviews

Folks who think that graphic novels don’t hold as much content as traditional texts have another thing coming with the Courageous Kids series. These new entries examine the lives of brave young people in history while providing ample context for the events and social conditions each had to confront. Though the books have different illustrators, the artwork in each is realistic and incorporates significant historic details. In Anne Frank Writes Words of Hope, readers spend time with Frank in Amsterdam before and after she goes into hiding, absorbing information about the Nazi party’s antisemitic agenda and Frank’s lasting legacy along the way. Jim Crow laws and white supremacy are addressed through the lens of desegregating schools in the American South in both The Little Rock Nine Challenge Segregation and Ruby Bridges Takes Her Seat. The former follows the first Black students chosen to attend Arkansas’ Central High School as they bravely faced hateful crowds and the court system for their right to education. Similarly, Ruby Bridges describes how young Bridges broke New Orleans’ color barrier as a first grader, despite massive resistance to integration by the public and elected officials. Mary Anning Breaks New Ground offers many fascinating insights into the life of this renowned fossil hunter in addition to highlighting the challenges she faced as a self-taught woman pursuing a scientific career.

Booklist - Julia Smith

11/01/2022

Gr 3–6—These four graphic novels tell the stories of outstanding young people of the past. In Mary Anning Breaks New Ground, readers learn of Anning's discoveries of prehistoric fossils along the English coast, her research, and her struggles to be recognized by the male-dominated Geologic Society. Ruby Bridges Takes Her Seat details the struggles of the six-year-old girl who broke school racial barriers in 1960 New Orleans. The Little Rock Nine Challenge Segregation provides a suspenseful account of the events surrounding the integration of Little Rock, Arkansas's Central High School. Anne Frank Writes Words of Hope provides readers with a look at her life inside the annex while hiding from the Nazis. Colorful drawings tell the story as much as the text and will attract visual learners. The information provided is good and the detailed narratives in Ruby Bridges and The Little Rock Nine are engrossing; readers will anxiously turn the pages to see how events unfold. Dinosaur fans will appreciate Anning's opportunity to find and research so many fossils. Those unfamiliar with Frank's story will find her an inspiration as someone who managed living in a constant state of fear and uncertainty. VERDICT Given the graphic form of these books along with perennial classroom topics, these books should do well in libraries and attract those who like the pictures to inform as well as the text.

School Library Journal