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    Separate is Never Equal
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    Separate is Never Equal
    Unavailable
    Separate is Never Equal
    Audiobook22 minutes

    Separate is Never Equal

    Written by Duncan Tonatiuh

    Narrated by Adriana Sananes

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites 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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherDreamscape Media Audio
    Release dateMay 27, 2014
    ISBN9781629238593
    Unavailable
    Separate is Never Equal
    Author

    Duncan Tonatiuh

    Duncan Tonatiuh is an award-winning Mexican-American author and illustrator. His books include the Pura Belpre Honor Award winners Dear Primo, Diego Rivera, and Pancho Rabbit and the Sibert Honor Award winners Separate Is Never Equal and Funny Bones. Born in Mexico, he graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York City. He is inspired by Pre-Columbian art, and his aim is to create images and stories that honor the past in a way that is relevant today.

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    Reviews for Separate is Never Equal

    4.5/5

    191 ratings19 reviews

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    • 5/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      I didn't realize I'd picked up a kid's book but, despite being only 40 pages of easy reading, it was quite interesting. The author was right , I hadn't heard of the Menendez's case and it was an important case in school equality. Recommended book for everyone but especially youngsters.
    • 5/5
      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 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.
    • 4/5
      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 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
    • 4/5
      Author's Note
      Photographs
      Glossary
      Bibliography
      About the Text
      Index
    • 5/5
      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.
    • 3/5
      "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.
    • 5/5
      Excellent story about Sylvia Mendez and her family's landmark school desegregation lawsuit against California public schools in 1947.
    • 3/5
      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 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!
    • 4/5
      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 just. I learned a lot about this court case and our nation's history.
    • 5/5
      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 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: collageCritique: "Separate is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez & Her Family's Fight for Desegregation is a great example of an informational book because...
    • 5/5
      This book is about a young girl named Sylivia and her family fighting for their rights. The young girl starts a new school and gets bullied by other students telling her to go back to where she came from. I gave this book a five because many students still deal with this today in school and life. This book gave a good detailed description of a true story that many students can relate to. This would be good in a history class, but I would also use it in my math class to show students that not everyone feels like they fit in so we need to be nice to everyone.
    • 4/5
      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.
    • 4/5
      Elementary Non-fictionGrades: 2-6Ages: 7 - 11Lexile Measure: AD870LThemes: civil rights movement, Latin America and latino, prejudice and discrimination, segregation and integrationI love Mr. Tonatiuh's art style. I'll probably read all of his books just for the pleasure of looking at it. In addition to that, this is good history book for young readers.
    • 5/5
      Separate Is Never Equal is a really good picture book about school desegregation in the Mendez court case in California for Mexican American citizens. From the start of the book, it details the harassment students of color faced at that time in an engaging way. This book talks about the civil rights movement from another lens that students may not know about or have talked about in depth. I think this book would be really good for 8th grade, even through its a picture book, because students have a little more clarity on the Civil Rights movement and can see it from another students perspective. This book can also be a great model for creating discussions about other minority groups at this time, and expand students idea of the role latinx people in the Civil Rights movement.
    • 5/5
      This book is about when Sylvia Mendez and her family moved to the town of Westminster, California. She was very excited about enrolling in her new school. Although her and her brothers were told no and told they had to attend the Mexican school instead. She did not know why because she was a U.S citizens and spoke english perfectly. The Mendez family decided to take it upon themselves and file a lawsuit. This was seven years before Brown v. Board of Education. I think this is a great book to read in a history class when learning about the civil rights movement. It is a powerful story that shows the horrible truth of what happened in our history.
    • 4/5
      This nonfiction picture book uses a child's point of view to capture the reality of segregation of Mexican Americans. The text ultimately informs readers of the 1947 California ruling against public school segregation. When Sylvia Mendez and her siblings move and enroll in a new school they were told that they must attend the Mexican school. The Mexican school definitely didn't have the same resources as the white school. Although they didn’t get a clear answer as to why then, in court they were told that the children were sent to the Mexican school “for their social behavior. They need to learn cleanliness of mind, manner, and dress. They are not learning that at home.” Also, “they have generally dirty hands, face, neck, and ears.” Sylvia’s family worked to bring the Latino community together to put an end to segregation. The beautiful folk inspired art appeals to readers. The book includes features like: a glossary, explanation about the dialogue (parts from court transcripts, part from conversations with Sylvia), author’s note, and photos of Sylvia and her family.
    • 4/5
      When Sylvia Mendez and her family moved from Santa Ana, California to nearby Westminster in 1944, they discovered that the local educational authorities would not allow Sylvia and her brothers to attend the town's well-funded school, instead insisting that they go to the far inferior "Mexican School." After failing to convince the authorities that his children should attend the public school near where they lived, Sylvia's father, Gonzalo Mendez, began to organize a petition against segregation in the schools of Orange County. Eventually he enlisted the help of lawyer David Marcus, and the Mendez vs. Westminster case began. In 1947, seven years before Brown vs. the Board of Education struck down segregated schooling nationally, the California courts decided, in response to the Mendez case, to outlaw segregation in their state's schools...Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation provides an important addition to the body of works devoted to the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, highlighting a legal case that provided the basis for the better known Brown vs. the Board of Education. I was not familiar with this story, and am very glad indeed to have that gap in my knowledge corrected. The story of Sylvia and her family is an inspiring one, and it highlights, not just the idea that standing up for justice can bring people of disparate backgrounds together - something emphasized in the story, through Sylvia's mother and her wise words - but also that every advance in freedom and equality is built upon the work of earlier people. It is unfortunate, but I think many, both children and adults, have an atomized view of history, often seeing certain developments in isolation, rather than as part of a rich tapestry of events. Author/illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh's book works to correct this myopic view, and it tells a story important in its own right as well - a story about standing up to racism and segregation. I appreciated both the story, which I found educational and moving, in equal measure; and the illustrations, done by Tonatiuh in his signature folk-art style, which owes so much to pre-Columbian Mesoamerican aesthetic traditions. The back matter, which includes an author's note, photographs on Sylvia Mendez and her family, a glossary, bibliography and index, provides additional information. Recommended to readers looking for children's books about the struggle to desegregate American schools. It could be paired very nicely with titles like The Story of Ruby Bridges, about one of the African-American children who desegregated the New Orleans schools in 1960.
    • 5/5
      The story of Sylvia Mendez, a Mexican-American child, who experienced racial segregation in the public schools in California. Her story is the basis for the famous court case Mendez v Westminster which confronted racial segregation in the public schools in California.