Illustrated by E. B. Lewis. 26 pages. Simon and Schuster, 2000.
Set in Reconstruction-era Tennessee, this book tells the story of Virgie, the youngest in a family that includes six brothers. She wants to go to school with her brothers, but they tell her she's not strong enough to tolerate the seven-mile walk, she'd be unable to be without Mama when they stay at school all week, and besides, school is unnecessary for girls. Her brother C.C. supports her, and their parents decide that, like other free people, she will go to school. She not only survives the trip, but survives it cheerfully, and invents strategies for getting through the scary woods. She plans to tell their parents all about school so as to share her learning with them. An afterword describes the consequences of prohibiting African American slaves from learning to read, and explains the story's origin in events that occurred in the author's family. Virgie is a wonderful role model in her resistance to discrimination based on both gender and cultural background.
Ages: 6-8
Cultural Context: multicultural
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