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

An awe-inspiring autobiographical picture book about a young African American girl who lived during the shutdown of public schools in Farmville, Virginia, following the landmark civil rights case Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka.
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 of the unconstitutional effort by white lawmakers of this small Virginia town to circumvent racial justice by denying an entire generation of children an education.
Most importantly, it is a story of how one community triumphed together, despite the shutdown.\nFrom School Library Journal\nGr 2–5—Many students will know about the desegregation of schools in the late 1950s and 1960s, or will have heard the story of Ruby Bridges. Few may realize that the state of Virginia was so opposed to integration that they closed public school for five years. Yolanda, a Black girl with deep ties to her community, wanted to go to school, but the lawmakers who were getting white students to private schools weren't helping her at all. A detailed bibliography makes it possible for students to do further research on this lesser known piece of history. For raising awareness of the tiered fates of the students in Virginia (and likely elsewhere), this book is an excellent starting place. But the text lurches from poetic notion to historical ones with little transition: "The year Yolanda Gladden was born, the United States looked much different than it does today. The country's cars, clothes, land, and even laws reflected old ideas—some were classic, and others were simply cold." As an opening line, this does not orient readers to what they are about discover. The artwork in the book is vibrant and engaging, giving readers strong images to go along with the text. VERDICT For those wanting to learn more about segregation and desegregation beyond Brown vs. the Board of Education, this is a necessary addition, despite its flaws.—Debbie Tanner