Synopses & Reviews
When Lizzie's parents are granted their freedom from slavery, Mama says its time for Lizzie and her brother Paul to go to a real school--a new one, built just for them. Lizzie can't wait. The scraps of learning she has picked up here and there have just made her hungry for more.
The walk to school is long. Some days it's rainy, or windy, or freezing cold. Sometimes there are dangers lurking along the way, like angry white folks with rocks, or mysterious men on horseback. The schoolhouse is still unpainted, and its very plain, but Lizzie has never seen a prettier sight. Except for maybe the teacher, Mizz Howard, who has brown skin, just like her.
They've finally made it to Freedom's School. But will it be strong enough to stand forever?
Praise for Light in the Darkness
"In this tale, [Cline-Ransome] makes the point that learning was not just a dream of a few famous and accomplished men and women, but one that belonged to ordinary folk willing to risk their lives. Ransome's full-page watercolor paintings-in beautiful shades of blue for the night and yellow for the day-are a window, albeit somewhat gentle, into a slave's life for younger readers. A compelling story about those willing to risk "[a] lash for each letter." -Kirkus Reviews
"Told from the perspective of Rosa, a girl who makes the dangerous nighttime journey to the lessons with her mother, the story effectively conveys the urgent dedication of the characters to their surreptitious schooling and their belief in the power of literacy...Solid text and soft, skillful illustrations combine for a poignant tribute to the power of education and the human spirit."-School Library Journal
Review
PRAISE FOR LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS"In this tale, [Cline-Ransome] makes the point that learning was not just a dream of a few famous and accomplished men and women, but one that belonged to ordinary folk willing to risk their lives. Ransome's full-page watercolor paintings-in beautiful shades of blue for the night and yellow for the day-are a window, albeit somewhat gentle, into a slave's life for younger readers. A compelling story about those willing to risk "[a] lash for each letter."---Kirkus Reviews
Review
PRAISE FOR LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS"Told from the perspective of Rosa, a girl who makes the dangerous nighttime journey to the lessons with her mother, the story effectively conveys the urgent dedication of the characters to their surreptitious schooling and their belief in the power of literacy...Solid text and soft, skillful illustrations combine for a poignant tribute to the power of education and the human spirit."---School Library Journal
Review
Emancipation means education. A little girl narrates her family's story in the days and months immediately after the end of slavery. Her parents decide that she and her brother must attend school in spite of the dangers they face walking there. The school does not have very much in the way of supplies or heat, but it does have a teacher "with skin as brown as mine," says the girl. Students come and go depending on when they are needed in the field. Then racism strikes, and the school burns down. Still, the community spirit is strong, and the African-American neighbors come together to rebuild. Cline-Ransome does not give a specific locale for the story, thus making it representative of much of the rural South after the Civil War. Telling the story in the voice of a child helps to make the story more immediate and should help young readers appreciate the difficulties involved in building, maintaining and attending school. Ransome's watercolor paintings are richly evocative of the seasons while also creating memorable characters and emotions. The endpapers depicting a blackboard with upper- and lowercase letters written in chalk are a child-friendly touch. Readers don't need to have been recently emancipated to understand this eloquent testament to the overriding importance of school. (Picture book. 4-7)--Kirkus
Review
The Emancipation Proclamation has been signed; Lizzie's parents "went to sleep slaves and woke up free." Now they insist Lizzie and her brother go to the new school built "just for us"-even though it means two less pairs of hands to help out on the family's meager farm. "Real freedom means 'rithmetic and writing," Mama says. But the school, its students, and its young teacher (a Northerner who has skin "just as brown as mine," Lizzie marvels) quickly become flashpoints for people determined to halt progress and justice. This collaboration from the Ransomes (Light in the Darkness) isn't always narratively taut-it pulls its dramatic punches, and the text reaches for an earnest folksiness ("we both knew that halfway to freedom feels like no freedom at all"). But James Ransome's watercolors are, as always, emotionally generous, cinematic in their sensibility, and resplendent with gorgeous color. Gradually, the story deepens its hold, and readers will come away understanding why it takes more than the stroke of a pen to give people the justice and equality they deserve. Ages 6 8.--PW
Review
When emancipation comes, Rosa and her younger brother, former African American slaves, walk to their new one-room school, the first they have ever known. Though white boys on the road throw rocks at them, the two children are warmly greeted by their teacher. She helps all of her students, who attend school when they can be spared from farm work, but one time she turns the children away because she fears for their safety. Another time, fire destroys the building. Still, the community pulls together and pitches in to build "Freedom's school." Told with economy and restraint, the story expresses the deep desire among the community's African American families for their children to be educated. Ransome's large-scale paintings are fluid watercolors with dramatic use of light and dark and a fine sense of composition. This handsome book makes an interesting follow-up to the writer and illustrator's other education-related picture books, including Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass (2012) and Light in the Darkness: A Story about How Slaves Learned in Secret (2013). Carolyn Phelan--Booklist
Synopsis
Education means true emancipation in this powerful story set in the rural post-Civil War South, written and illustrated by an award-winning author/artist team.
When Lizzie's parents are granted their freedom from slavery, Mama says its time for Lizzie and her brother Paul to go to a real school--a new one, built just for them. Lizzie can't wait. The scraps of learning she has picked up here and there have just made her hungry for more.
The walk to school is long. Some days it's rainy, or windy, or freezing cold. Sometimes there are dangers lurking along the way, like angry white folks with rocks, or mysterious men on horseback. The schoolhouse is still unpainted, and its very plain, but Lizzie has never seen a prettier sight. Except for maybe the teacher, Mizz Howard, who has brown skin, just like her.
They've finally made it to Freedom's School. But will it be strong enough to stand forever?
About the Author
Lesa Cline-Ransome (www.lesaclineransome.com) and James E. Ransome have paired up to create several acclaimed picture books, including
Satchel Paige,
Young Pele,
Quilt Alphabet,
Before There Was Mozart, Words Set Me Free: The Story of Young Frederick Douglass,
Benny Goodman and Teddy Wilson, and
Light in the Darkness. Lesa is also the author of
Before Now, illustrated by G. Brian Karas.
Freedom was inspired by her research into African American education immediately following the Emancipation Proclamation.
James E. Ransome (www.jamesaransome.com) has illustrated nearly fifty books for children, including The Creation, a Coretta Scott King Award Book; Uncle Jed's Barbershop, a Coretta Scott King Honor Book; This Is the Dream; and A Pride of African Tales, an NCSS/CBC Notable Children's Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. His traveling exhibit Visual Stories has been touring the United States since 2003. The Children's Book Council named him one of seventy-five authors and illustrators everyone should know. Lesa and James live in Rhinebeck, New York, with their four children and their Saint Bernard, Nola.