In the early decades of the twentieth century, Julius Rosenwald, president of Sears, Roebuck, & Co., donated millions of dollars to build schools for African American children in the south. The Rosenwald Fund stipulated that the both black and white members of the local community had to contribute to the school’s building and upkeep, and the state had to commit to maintaining the school. This information, stated in an author’s note, provides the background for this fictional story about one such school being built in a rural black community. Author Carole Boston Weatherford tells her tale in a series of poems in the voice of a young black girl who is both witness to and participant in the exciting, life-changing project in her community. R. Gregory Christie’s gouache and colored pencil paintings are expressive and distinctively styled, conveying a sense of hard work and hope. (Ages 6–9)

Renowned illustrator Gregory Christie joins the Scholastic Press list with this empowering story about an African-American community who builds their own school.

Based on the true story of the Rosenwald schools built in the rural African-American South in the 1920s, writer and poet Carol Boston Weatherford tells the lyrical story of third grader Ovella as her family and community help each other build a new, and much-prayed for, school.

Inspired by Booker T. Washington, Julius Rosenwald, the son of an immigrant and the president of Sears, Roebuck and Co., donated millions of dollars to build schools for African-American children in the rural South. The local African-American community were required to raise matching funds, secure [cont'd]