Nonfiction blog

 

Title: Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family’s Fight for Desegregation

Author: Duncan Tonatiuh
Illustrator: Duncan Tonatiuh
Age group: 7-10 y/o
Awards: 
Genre: Biographical/ Informational

Summary

This book follows the story of a young girl named Sylvia Mendez who was told she could not attend a public school but rather had to attend “the Mexican School.” Her father did not like the idea of that so he did everything he could to try and get his daughter to attend the public school no matter what. Her father tried speaking with the superintendent, the county superintendent, and the school board to try and get an answer as to why his daughter could not attend that school but got the same answer every time. He created the Parents’ Association of Mexican American Children to try and collect signatures, but could not get any due to the fact that the families worked for white families. Then one day someone overheard him trying to get signatures and told him about a lawyer named David Marcus. David helped Mr. Mendez and they filed a lawsuit, it took almost a year for the judge to make a ruling, but he finally ruled in favor of Mr. Mendez. They had no time to celebrate though because the school appealed the case and they had to go through another trial. In the second trial they won again because other associations of people from different backgrounds sent letters to the judge to help the case of Mr. Mendez. In the end there was a law passed that all children in California were allowed to go to school together no matter their race or ethnicity.

Evaluation

This book really got to me since I myself am a Hispanic. It is sad to think that there was a time where schools were segregated and other races were seen as inferior to the white race. I would most definitely use this book in the classroom because it is very informative and teaches the students about a social issue that happened back in the 1900s. The book can be tied to a unit of social studies or history when it comes to learning about racial issues and segregation. I personally would use the book in class to discuss the issue with the students and ask them how they would feel if schools were still segregated in todays society. I would also use the book to teach the students that they should not take their education for granted and lightly. This book is a really good book for students to see some of the issues back in the day, and what some students had to go through because of segregation. It is a really good read and overall the book is amazing. The illustrations are great and they help a lot with the text. I would most definitely recommend my friends and family members to read the book and for some of my friends that are teachers to read the book in class.