The Case for Loving

Happy Saturday!  Since my commute is a .3 mile walk I don't get the luxury to listen to NPR to and from school.  The beauty of this world today is that nothing is missed with the Internet and online streaming.  (and yes, me who is always up till midnight actually fell asleep on Dave Letterman's last night but luckily got to watch it the next day this very way)

I have been tweeting a lot about how much I love Junior Library Guild and my "books of the month," especially the ones recently.  In my May box, I received,

Such a beauty by SELINA ALKO and SEAN QUALLS.  I didn't realize it, but I already "knew" Sean Qualls--He's illustrated a bunch of other books  including, Dizzy, Scit Scat Raggedy Cat, Before John was a Jazz Giant and more!  We used all those books for our Acoustic Rooster jazz musician project for Kwame!

The Case for Loving is getting a lot of attention now and was even on NPR (YES! There's the connection to NPR, if you were wondering) yesterday.  If you missed it, here's the story:

   The illustrations are gorgeous and help tell the story of how it was illegal for interracial couples to be married as late as 1967 in Virginia.  I am sure this would be hard for any young person to grasp these days, even me!  This hits home to me personally because my own inlaws are an interracial couple.  Although slightly different circumstances since they are Asian and Caucasian and living in California, it was still 1967 and they could have still experienced some discrimination.

The Lovings moved from their home state to Washington, DC (where it was legal) so they could raise their family without grief.  You have to get your hands on this book!  Good discussions could be had with students of all ages.  I have to be honest, I haven't had the chance to share it with my students, but definitely will in the future.  It is a great addition to my library and again, I am grateful to Junior Library Guild for passing it on to me.  The book could be paired so well with some of our chapter books with the older grades, too.  Hmmm...like, Revolution by Deborah Wiles perhaps?  As an aside, I know she is working on the third book in the trilogy now and I believe it will take place in the late 1960s, so definitely, YES! Looking forward to that one when it comes out...

I'm all over the place this morning.  Probably haven't had enough coffee yet.  I just wanted to put a shout out for Selina Alko and Sean Qualls!  Maybe they'll be at ALA and I'll get to jump with them?More later….