inZone Books: The Forbidden Schoolhouse: The True and Dramatic Story of Prudence Crandall and Her Students (Reader's Workshop) - Softcover

Jurmain, Suzanne; Smith, Michael W

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0736231420 ISBN 13: 9780736231428

Publisher: National Geographic School Pub, 2006

Synopsis

In 1833, Prudence Crandall opened a school for African-American girls because she believed in their right to an education. But when this angers her neighbors, will she have to fight for her students' education?

About this title

About the Author:

Professor, College of Education Temple University Dr. Michael Smith joined the ranks of college teachers after eleven years of teaching high school English. He has won awards for his teaching at both the high school and college levels. His research focuses on how experienced readers read and talk about texts, as well as what motivates adolescents' reading and writing both in and out of school. He has written eight books and monographs, including "Reading Don't Fix No Chevys": Literacy in the Lives of Young Men, for which he and his co-author received the 2003 David H. Russell Award for Distinguished Research in the Teaching of English. His writing has appeared in such journals as Communication Education, English Journal, Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy, Journal of Educational Research, Journal of Literacy Research, and Research in the Teaching of English.

From Booklist:

*Starred Review* Gr. 5-8. Jurmain has plucked an almost forgotten incident from history and has shaped a compelling, highly readable book around it. In 1831, Prudence Crandall opened a school for young white ladies. When asked by an African American teenager if she might join the class, Crandall, whose sympathies were with the abolitionists, agreed. So begins a jolting episode in which Crandall turned her school into one for girls of color, and is both tormented and sued by the citizenry of Canterbury, Connecticut, who wanted no part of African Americans in their town. Writing with a sense of drama that propels readers forward (and quoting the language of the day, which includes the word nigger), Jurmain makes painfully clear what Crandall and her students faced, while showing their courage as they stood up to those who tried to deter them. Printed on thick, snowy stock and including a number of sepia-toned and color photographs as well as historical engravings, the book's look will draw in readers. Children will be especially pleased by the appended material, which includes an epilogue that tells what became of the principals, as well as source notes for the many quotes. Ilene Cooper
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About this edition

• Publisher: National Geographic School Pub
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0736231420
• ISBN 13: 9780736231428
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 152