Brown vs Board of Education.

Aretha, David.  Brown vs Board of Education.    Morgan Reynolds   2013  128p  $26.05  ISBN 978-1599-35370-8  ms/hs  series: Civil Rights Movement(MR)#8,12        Nonfiction  VG-BNS   

The Supreme Court case of Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka is described in great detail and placed in its historical context in this overview for middle-school students.  We begin with a brief history of race relations, including the importance of Frederick Douglas and the Civil War, and move quickly through the years to mid-20th-century United States, when Linda Brown’s parents decided they wanted their daughter to have a better education than that afforded her by the segregated school she had been attending.  Every nuance of the case is described, including the fact that five cases were actually bundled together in the Brown decision.  The writing is good, and there are plenty of primary-source quotes, source notes, photographs with photo credits, a timeline, an index, a bibliography and lists of web sites to consult. 

The only glaring error appears on page 18, where in line 12 the text reads “nineteenth century” when it should read “twentieth century.”  This howler should be corrected in future editions.     The series is called The Civil Rights Movement, and all the books in the series are edited by David Aretha.  

Summary: The Supreme Court case of Brown versus the Board of Education of Topeka is described in great detail and placed in its historical context in this overview for middle-school students.    

Civil Rights-Court Cases                                    --Carol Kennedy