Freedom School, Yes!

In 1964's Freedom Summer, one girl sees that nothing—not hatred, not fear, not anything else—can stand in the way of her learning about the world.

Jolie has a lot to be scared about since the new Freedom School teacher, Annie, came to town. Bricks thrown through windows in the dead of night, notes filled with hate, and now a fire has burned down the church where Annie was supposed to start teaching tomorrow! Without the church, how can she possibly teach Jolie and the other townspeople about black poets and artists, historians and inventors? Unless the people themselves fight back.

In this triumphant story based on the 1964 Mississippi Freedom School Summer Project, Amy Littlesugar and Floyd Cooper come together to celebrate the strength of a people and the bravery of one young girl who didn't let being scared get in her way.

Amy Littlesugar, who was only ten during the Mississippi Freedom School Summer Project, interviewed teachers, volunteers, and even folk singers to tell this story. And one thing they all agreed on was how much courage it took to make certain the people of Mississippi—young and old—got the chance to learn. Littlesugar has written many other books for children, including Tree of Hope, Shake Rag, and Marie in Fourth Position. She lives in Columbia, Maryland.

Floyd Cooper always dreamed of becoming an artist, and he ultimately illustrated dozens of books for children. He received a Coretta Scott King Award for his illustrations in The Blacker the Berry and a Coretta Scott King Honor for his illustrations in Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea and I Have Heard of a Land . . .