Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Familys Fight for Desegregation (Jane Addams Award Book)

The story of Sylivia Mendez and her family's battle to go to the school in their neighbor instead of the dilapidated school for Mexicans. The book gives the reader information about the desegregation of California and the struggles the Mendez family faced trying to go to school. The illustrations

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in the book help to convey the message of the story.

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I liked this book because it told the story of a family fighting for the rights of their children's education in the California school system. I did not anything about the story of the Mendez family. I found it interesting there used to be an entire Mexican school, like Hoover School in the book. I

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think this book was a great read because most people do not know this story and it is important to American history. I did not like this story because of the illustrations. The illustrations essentially looked like cartoon circle heads with huge eyes, and it took away from the story. With such a serious educational lesson in this book the illustrations should have been beautiful or playful. Perhaps it is just not my style but I felt like the strange cartoon characters took away from the meaning of the book. The main idea of the story is that every person deserves equal rights!

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Excellent story about Sylvia Mendez and her family's landmark school desegregation lawsuit against California public schools in 1947.

Very informative and motivational story. Great message, Social Justice. "Speak up" and don't settle until you get justice.

By far the most unique segregation book I've read. Duncan Tonatiuh's aztec influenced illustrations make you feel deep in the roots of the Mexican heritage. I also thought the aztec influence artwork showed the Mendez family as warriors for education.

I would use this book to show what life was like for a Latina/Latino in the mid 1900s. We read Esperanza Rising in 5th grade, which is about the conditions of migrant workers during the 50s. This would be a nice pairing to go along with it.

The story is a great one, and one that should be known much more widely. The prose is engaging and straight-forward and the illustrations are stylized, reminiscent of the figures seen in Mayan codexes.

Author's Note
Photographs
Glossary
Bibliography
About the Text
Index

I would use this book to show what life was like for a Latina/Latino in the mid 1900s. We read Esperanza Rising in 5th grade, which is about the conditions of migrant workers during the 50s. This would be a nice pairing to go along with it.

This book tells the story about segregation of Mexicans in California, a story that is not often told. Mexican students were forced to go to separate schools that were not as nice as the schools for white students. It also talks about the battle to change laws so that all students can go to school

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together.

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This is a book about the court case Mendez v. Westminster School District that happened in 1947, to end segregation due to race or background. This case like others prompted the Brown v. Board of Education, to end all segregation in schools. The author breaks the story down in a way that elementary

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students would be able to immediately grasp.

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"Years before the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling Brown v. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez, an eight-year-old girl of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage, played an instrumental role in Mendez v. Westminster, the landmark desegregation case of 1946 in California"-- Provided by publisher.

This story informational picture book follow Sylvia Mendez, a soon to be third grader, and her family. They moved to Westminster, California when her father has the chance to buy and work on his own farm. The Mexican-American family's decides to pursue integration in the public schools in

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California in 1945. Sylvia Mendez narrates the book as she encounters resistance in her new, integrated school. Her mother tells the story of the legal battles that got them there.

This is a great book to use when learning about segregation or even to look at another point of view - because when most people think of segregation in schools they focus on the south, brown v. board of education, and the civil rights movement. I had never heard of this story and after reading this I felt more informed. The pictures are a little stereotypical, and have all the whites looking one way and all the Hispanics looking another, which I didn't really like, especially for a story when we know there is no need for segregation because we are more alike one another than different. The book is very well written and even though it has some advanced vocabulary, the book does have a glossary in the book to help, so this book is a great book to share with others and help inform both children and adults. I would definitely recommend reading this book!

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Genre: Non-fiction (informational)

I would use this book to:
1. teach students about
2. teach students about plot.

Summary: This book is about how Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. When Sylvia and her brothers went to get enrolled at a school in their

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neighborhood, the school secretary told Sylvia's aunt that Sylvia and her brothers must go to the Mexican school. Sylvia's father began to advocate for the desegregation of the schools because he believed his children had the same right as the other children to attend the school in their neighborhood. Sylvia's dad hired a lawyer to help him file a lawsuit. After the court heard the case the judge ruled in favor of Sylvia's family.

Media: collage

Critique: "Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation is a great example of an informational book because...

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A picture book that tells the story of the Mendez family and their quest to ensure their children (daughter, Sylvia, and sons Gonzalo, and Jerome) were able to attend the school in their community. This book tells how the Mendez family moved to Westminster, CA because after years of working as a

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field laborer Mr. Mendez was going to be his own boss. The family was leasing a farm to work for themselves growing asparagus, chilies, and tomatoes. After settling in and getting the farm going, Sylvia's aunt took her, her siblings and cousins to enroll in the local school at the end of the summer. They discover that only the two light skinned cousins with a surname that appeared to be French would be allowed to enroll. Sylvia and her brothers are told that they must attend the Mexican school, a run-down school surrounded by a cow pasture. So begins the fight of the Mendez family for an equal education for their children. The book explains the steps the family takes to ensure the best education for their children. It provides information on how and why a lawsuit was filed as well as the court process. It is important to note, not only did the Mendez case led to the integration of California’s schools in 1947, but it also paved the way for the desegregation of schools across the United States and this event occurred nearly 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education.

Grades 4-High School

Classroom use: Discrimination Racism, Segregation/integration, Law, Civil Rights, Prejudice/Tolerance. Also can be used for exploration of primary source documents, court transcripts, and interviews. Provides a good perspective that inequality is a universal issue that should be studied over and over with examples that move beyond typical examples.

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This is a wonderful book! It is very long, and a little higher leveled than I would typically use for 3rd grade. I love history though, and this is such an important topic to talk to kids about. This is a powerful story about using your voice, perseverance, and standing up for what is right and

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just. I learned a lot about this court case and our nation's history.

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The illustrations in this book are beautiful, and the story is a great read along to spark discussion.

Before Brown v. The Board of Education, the Mendez family was fighting for the right to an equal education for their children. This book does a great job of chronicling how her parents went through the legal channels to challenge the status quo on education. With the appeal, other groups joined the

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fight including the League of United Latin American Citizes, Nationaal Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Japanese Amercian Citizens League, the American Jewish Congress, and other groups. This book demonstrates the power of what a small group of people can do.

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The book is about a girl who is treated poorly in a white school. It is good at showing how equal rights came to be.

I liked this book for several reasons. First, it discusses a topic that may be difficult to address. It pushes readers to broaden their perspective on discrimination. Additionally, I loved the unique illustrations. They really helped tell the story by enhancing the details. I also loved this book

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because of the writing. Finally, I enjoyed that every so often there would be a Spanish word mixed into the story. This could be a great way for Hispanic students to connect to the text. The big idea of this story is that injustices can be overcome. I would reccomend this book to any parent or teacher wanting to inform their student about discrimination

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This book was a pleasure to read and look at. I had never heard of Sylvia Mendez or the segregation of Mexican-American children from mainstream schools. The book informed me about American historical events of which I was unaware.The events in the story took place in the 1940s, and were about the

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desegregation of schools in California. Mexican-Americans were forced to attend separate schools because of the many prejudices and negative stereotypes about Mexicans. Sylvia Mendez' father bravely filed a lawsuit against the school system. Eventually the judge in the case ruled that the segregation was illegal. From then on, Mexican-American children could attend the same schools as all of the other children in California.

The illustrations were created by Tonatiuh, and have a Mexican sensibility and flair. These carefully rendered illustrations add a great deal of charm and interest to the book.

This book would appeal to readers interested in social justice. This book would also appeal to readers interested in segregation and particularly school segregation. This book provides wonderful examples of Mexican-American art and would appeal to readers interested in book illustration.

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This is the story of a young Mexican-American girl named Sylvia and her family. Her family tried to get her and her siblings into school, but they were told to go to the "Mexican School". This story tells of the fight that her parents decided to put up to get their children equal education and how

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they initiated change. Her father got a lawyer involved to help them prove that the schooling system was not fair, because the Mexican school did not have resources, like the other schools. The story details the how the court case played out in the courtroom and how biased some of the people were. Even after they won the case, they still had to fight for equal rights in education. But, their hard work prevailed and they won equal education that was not segregated by race in California!

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This is the story of Sylvia Mendez. Her parents helped end school segregation in California almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education. Sylvia was an American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, yet she was not allowed to enroll in a “Whites

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only” school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California. This book is well-written with good illustrations to explain segregation from both a child's and an historical perspective.

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I thought this book was extremely powerful and communicative of prejudice and racial issues that our country faced not so long ago in history. I thought the topic of such a controversial subject was handled in the most appropriate way, without racial slurs. This book teaches kids about the effect

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hurtful words can have, and that everyone should be considered equal. The illustrations are digitally rendered but represent this authors homage to Mexican culture.

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