Nonfiction: Separate is Never Equal
Title: Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation
Author and Illustrator: Duncan Tonatiuh
Genre: Nonfiction
Major Awards: Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal, Jane Addams Children's Book Award for Younger Children (2015), Américas Award (2015), Tomás Rivera Mexican American Children’s Book Award (2015), Bluestem Book Award Nominee (2018)
Pura Belpré Award Nominee for Illustration (2015), NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book (2015)
Age Group: 6-11 years old
Separate is Never Equal tells the story of Sylvia Mendez and her families fight to desegregate schools. The story begins with Sylvia's first day of school; while she is walking down the hallway a boy points to her and tells her to "go back to the Mexican school" an that she didn't belong there. Hearing this hurt Sylvia's feelings so much so that when she went home she told her mom that she no longer wanted to go to school anymore. When hearing this Sylvias's mother reminded her of all that they fought to get her into that school. Sylvia then recalled that during summer before school started her aunt had taken Sylvia herself, her two brothers, and two of her cousins to get enrolled in the nearby school. When they went to enroll the secretary told them that her cousins could enroll, but Sylvia and her brothers could not and that they would have to attend the other school. Sylvia's father couldn't believe this, he spoke to the superintendent, the county superintendent, all the way to the school board and everyone gave him the same answer. Hoover Elementary, or "the Mexican school" was not at all well kept or taken care of; the school didn't have a playground, swing, the students had to eat their lunch outside with the flies, and teachers didn't care about the students. Mr. Mendez tried to get others to sign a petition, but they were afraid of getting in trouble and chose not to sign. One day a gentleman came by in a truck and gave Mr. Mendez the idea of filing a lawsuit against the school district. It wasn't easy, but Mr. Mendez gathered others who had equally experienced injustice on account of segregation, and they had a case. While Sylvia's father was working tirelessly on the lawsuit, her mother was taking care of both the family and the family farm by herself. On March 2, 1945 Mr. Mendez and his lawyer went in to present their case; the hearing lasted 5 days but in the end Mr. Mendez won! Although, the victory didn't last long and the verdict was appealed in state court. The decision took longer to deliberate, but in the end the judge ruled in favor of Mr. Mendez and schools in California were no longer segregated. Although her first day was hard, whenever Sylvia felt sad or some of the other kids weren't being nice to her, she would remember all that her parents did to help her attend that school, and by the end of the day she already had her first friend.
Separate is Never Equal is a powerful story that was written about the education court case Mendez vs. Westminster. Prior to entering the education program I never knew about this court case. It wasn't until after taking my bilingual education class and learning the history of bilingual education that I came to know about Mendez vs. Westminster. I also did not know that there was a children's book written about it. I think this is such a wonderful informational text about history that would make great addition to any 1st- 6th grade classroom library. The book itself can be used in all levels of education, It can be used in elementary school during Hispanic Heritage month in Social Studies to teach students about the history of education or the book can even be used to teach education majors about the history of education and important court cases that helped to evolve and develop the profession. The book teaches the powerful lesson of perseverance, pushing through, and never giving up.
Pura Belpré Award Nominee for Illustration (2015), NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book (2015)
Age Group: 6-11 years old
Separate is Never Equal tells the story of Sylvia Mendez and her families fight to desegregate schools. The story begins with Sylvia's first day of school; while she is walking down the hallway a boy points to her and tells her to "go back to the Mexican school" an that she didn't belong there. Hearing this hurt Sylvia's feelings so much so that when she went home she told her mom that she no longer wanted to go to school anymore. When hearing this Sylvias's mother reminded her of all that they fought to get her into that school. Sylvia then recalled that during summer before school started her aunt had taken Sylvia herself, her two brothers, and two of her cousins to get enrolled in the nearby school. When they went to enroll the secretary told them that her cousins could enroll, but Sylvia and her brothers could not and that they would have to attend the other school. Sylvia's father couldn't believe this, he spoke to the superintendent, the county superintendent, all the way to the school board and everyone gave him the same answer. Hoover Elementary, or "the Mexican school" was not at all well kept or taken care of; the school didn't have a playground, swing, the students had to eat their lunch outside with the flies, and teachers didn't care about the students. Mr. Mendez tried to get others to sign a petition, but they were afraid of getting in trouble and chose not to sign. One day a gentleman came by in a truck and gave Mr. Mendez the idea of filing a lawsuit against the school district. It wasn't easy, but Mr. Mendez gathered others who had equally experienced injustice on account of segregation, and they had a case. While Sylvia's father was working tirelessly on the lawsuit, her mother was taking care of both the family and the family farm by herself. On March 2, 1945 Mr. Mendez and his lawyer went in to present their case; the hearing lasted 5 days but in the end Mr. Mendez won! Although, the victory didn't last long and the verdict was appealed in state court. The decision took longer to deliberate, but in the end the judge ruled in favor of Mr. Mendez and schools in California were no longer segregated. Although her first day was hard, whenever Sylvia felt sad or some of the other kids weren't being nice to her, she would remember all that her parents did to help her attend that school, and by the end of the day she already had her first friend.
Separate is Never Equal is a powerful story that was written about the education court case Mendez vs. Westminster. Prior to entering the education program I never knew about this court case. It wasn't until after taking my bilingual education class and learning the history of bilingual education that I came to know about Mendez vs. Westminster. I also did not know that there was a children's book written about it. I think this is such a wonderful informational text about history that would make great addition to any 1st- 6th grade classroom library. The book itself can be used in all levels of education, It can be used in elementary school during Hispanic Heritage month in Social Studies to teach students about the history of education or the book can even be used to teach education majors about the history of education and important court cases that helped to evolve and develop the profession. The book teaches the powerful lesson of perseverance, pushing through, and never giving up.
Comments
Post a Comment