Eureka!

Dream of Freedom, A

Publication Information

Author: McWhorter, Diane

Illustrator:

Title: Dream of Freedom, A

Date: 2004

Publisher: Scholastic

City: New York

ISBN, paperback: 0-439-56778-4

ISBN, hardback:

Recommended audience:

ABE/ABLE: Yes

ESOL:

Family:

Young Adult:

Picture: Yes

General Information:

Book Type(s): nonfiction, memoirs/reminiscences, photographic essay

HSE Descriptor(s): social studies

Summary:

This well written and comprehensive documentation of the Civil Rights Movement, its background, issues, and confrontations is told by a white Southern woman of privilege who grew up during that period. Photographs and fact boxes, index, bibliography, and a reading list expand the information provided.

Teaching Ideas:

Since this is a careful, cohesive account of the Civil Rights Movement, readers may want to construct a timeline as they read, either individually or as a class. The point-of-view of the author sets this book apart from the many books on the Civil Rights Matrix(See the below). Learners may want to look at the author's earlier book in order to discuss and write about why McWhorter broke with the traditions of her childhood, saying in the epilogue, "Having a father who opposed the civil rights movement had ironically given me the passion to take up its cause, as a writer, 20 years later" to discover "how she fit into the world." Have readers lived through a period that became important historically without being conscious of it? Chapters on specific events or individuals can be excerpted and used with other books in the text set. The photographs make good writing prompts.

Teaching Strategies: