The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students

by Suzanne Jurmain

Overview

“A captivating read.” —Kirkus Reviews   They threw rocks at the school windows. Villagers refused to sell Miss Crandall groceries or let her students attend the town church. Her schoolhouse was mysteriously set on fire. The town authorities dragged her to jail and put her on trial for breaking the law.   Her crime? Trying to teach African American girls geography, history, reading, philosophy, and chemistry.   Exciting and eye-opening, this account of the heroine of Canterbury, Connecticut, and her elegant white schoolhouse at the center of town will give readers a glimpse of what it is like to try to change the world when few agree with you.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781328740847
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Pages:	160
Product dimensions:	8.90(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	10 - 12 Years

About the Author

Suzanne Tripp Jurmain was born into a theatrical family, making her acting debut at age four and appearing in a number of television programs during her childhood and teen years. After earning an honors degree in English at UCLA, she worked at UCLA’s Fowler Museum before becoming a freelance writer. She has published several award-winning books for children on historical subjects, including The Secret of the Yellow Death, and the picture books Worst of Friends: Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and the True Story of an American Feud, George Did It, and Nice Work, Franklin!, all illustrated by Larry Day. Suzanne Jurmain lives with her husband in Los Angeles. Visit her website at www.suzannejurmain.com.
 

Editorial Reviews

* "Jurmain has plucked an almost forgotten incident from history and has shaped a compelling, highly readable book around it." —Booklist, starred review "Fascinating photographs and images . . . and endnotes provide insight into the lives of the students, Crandall, and her supporters." —Horn Book "This book offers a fresh look at the climate of education for African Americans and women in the early 1800s." ––School Library Journal "A captivating read." —Kirkus Reviews —

From the Publisher

In 1833, a white woman named Prudence Crandall fought a lonely battle against racism when she opened the first New England academy for young African American women in Canterbury, Conn. In her riveting book, The Forbidden Schoolhouse, Suzanne Jurmain highlights the huge odds faced by Crandall, a young single woman in a world run by men.
—The Washington Post

Karen MacPherson

Prudence Crandall never set out to be a revolutionary-just a teacher. But when she made the bold decision to admit African-American girls to her exclusive girls' academy in Canterbury, Conn., she made a conscious decision to change her life forever. As the white parents of Canterbury would not allow their daughters to attend school with black students, Crandall closed it altogether, reopening it as a boarding school for middle-class black girls in 1833, with help from her Quaker family and William Lloyd Garrison, among others. It was a short-lived enterprise, however, as opposition both legal and vigilante finally forced her to close less than two years later. Jurmain adopts a storyteller's voice to tell the tale, lacing it with excerpts from primary sources, but always locating readers in the emotional heart of the conflict. This makes for a fast-paced read; well-placed images depict both the principal players and the interior of the Crandall school (now a museum). Closing chapters fill in the details of Crandall's later life and sketch the subsequent history of school integration. (appendices, notes, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 10+)

Kirkus Reviews