This Promise of Change by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy - ESSENTIAL

This Promise of Change: One Girl’s Story in the Fight for School Equality by Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy, 228 pages.  NON-FICTION Bloomsbury, 2019.  $18. 

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS, HS – ESSENTIAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

14yo Jo Ann Allen helped integrate her high school in Clinton, Tennessee in 1956.  After experiencing persecution and horrible opposition from protestors, Jo Ann starts to wonder if it’s worth trying to integrate.  As many of the eleven other black students decide not to continue to be persecuted, Jo Ann must make the important decision for herself.  

I enjoyed this book as much as Warriors Don’t Cry by Melba Beals.  Jo Ann’s story is heartbreaking, and she is easy to relate to because of her interest in friends, her crush and her schooling.  I loved that it was written in verse.  I knew about the Little Rock Nine but didn’t realize that Tennessee was the first school in the south to attempt integration.  The content includes physical violence against a preacher and other acts of violence and bullying from the protestors.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson.