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

by Yolanda Gladden, Keisha Morris (Illustrator), Dr. Tamara Pizzoli

Overview

A 2023 Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Finalist

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063011168
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/11/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	83,056
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 10.90(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

The inspiring events that take place in When the Schools Shut Down were experienced firsthand by Yolanda Gladden herself, who is the mother of three and lives in Farmville, Virginia.

Keisha Morris is a storyteller and illustrator who grew up in Charlottesville, Virginia, and currently resides in Maryland. She earned her BFA in illustration at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York and enjoys creating characters whose personalities jump off the page. Keisha is the illustrator of When the Schools Shut Down, written by Yolanda Gladden and Dr. Tamara Pizzoli; The Truth About Mrs. Claus, written by Meena Harris; Words of Wonder from Z to A, by 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee winner Zaila Avant-garde; and many more books for children. When she is not drawing, she loves spending time with her wife, daughter, and two fur babies, Elphie and Ollie!

Dr. Tamara Pizzoli, who helped pen When the Schools Shut Down, is a Texas-born publisher, curator, author, and educator. She is the author of many celebrated books for children, including Tallulah the Tooth Fairy CEO.

Editorial Reviews

★ 11/29/2021

Acknowledging the importance of oral history in African diasporic traditions, this nonfiction account by Gladden (b. 1954), transcribed by Pizzoli, offers an engaging, community care–centered examination of segregation in the Virginia school system before and after Brown v. Board of Education. Four years after the decision was handed down, when Gladden was to begin school, officials closed every public school in her county to avoid integrating the institutions. The community reacted by creating its own schools. Pizzoli’s rhythmic prose drives the narrative forward: “When Yolanda’s mama and Aunt Dorothy graduated from high school in 1953, the conditions of public schools in Prince Edward County were still separate, still unequal, and still unfair.” Collaged tissue paper and digital media art by Morris offers a lushly layered backdrop to the events, emphasizing the expressions and closeness of the Black community portrayed in this informative, warmly personable autobiography. Back matter features notes from the authors, a timeline of desegregation of the American school system, and sources and further reading. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

[A]n engaging, community care–centered examination of segregation in the Virginia school system before and after Brown v. Board of Education. — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A celebration of a community stepping up to educate its children, and a message that learning takes place in many venues other than schools. — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Spotlighting an often-overlooked aspect of civil rights history…[An] attractive, informative picture book on school desegregation. — Booklist

Edifying. — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

A celebration of a community stepping up to educate its children, and a message that learning takes place in many venues other than schools.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Spotlighting an often-overlooked aspect of civil rights history…[An] attractive, informative picture book on school desegregation.

Booklist

Spotlighting an often-overlooked aspect of civil rights history…[An] attractive, informative picture book on school desegregation.

Booklist

04/01/2022

Gr 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

School Library Journal

2021-12-03
Yolanda Gladden was born in modest circumstances in Farmville, Virginia, in 1954, the same year the landmark Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Supreme Court case ended school segregation in the U.S.

This third-person biography opens with an account of Gladden’s formative years, including happy times spent at her Uncle Tank’s convenience store, in church on Sundays, and watching her mother sew. In her close-knit community, young Yolanda learned important lessons of resilience and faith, and her family instilled pride in her. As she grew older, she “noticed the world around her was divided into two distinct colors: black and white.” By 1959, Yolanda was school-aged, but White lawmakers in her county still hadn’t implemented the federal mandate to integrate classrooms; rather, they had closed all schools. The rest of the book highlights the response of Farmville’s Black community, which included protests and the establishment of empowering grassroots schools for Black children. While the book shines a light on the so-called “Lost Generation,” a piece of U.S. history that many readers will be unfamiliar with, Gladden’s personal and emotional experience of the life-changing events gets lost in the largely fact-driven, outward-looking narrative. Morris’ collaged tissue paper and digital art is dynamic and excels at depicting multiple scenes per spread. Most characters are Black.

Edifying and worth the read despite some flaws of execution. (authors' notes, timeline, sources, further reading) (Picture book biography. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews