The Virginia Mysteries Book 9
In 1959, the Prince Edward County, Virginia public schools closed. For five years. Back then, it wasn’t over a health pandemic, but because county leaders refused to desegregate white and Black schools. When long-hidden photographs surface from the 1963 student protests along Main Street in Farmville, Sam, Derek, and Caitlin join a mission to identify the faces of determined teenagers who stood for justice nearly sixty years ago.
Their search winds through Virginia’s checkered racial past of Jim Crow and Massive Resistance, sending them to key sites like the Moton Museum, Evergreen Cemetery, Jackson Ward, and the Virginia State Capitol, and courageous voices like Barbara Johns, Oliver Hill, and Maggie Walker. But when protests over Confederate monuments and cries for social justice ignite their city, will the kids use their lessons from history to take a stand in the present? How far will they go to support new friends while confronting faces from the past?
Resources
Reading Comprehension Quiz – NEW!
Green Decision and New Kent County
Maggie Walker House – National Historic Site
Now Available in Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, and Audiobook
Praise for Pictures at the Protest (from online reader reviews):
My list of books that I consider top-notch for read alouds is very short, but it became one book longer after reading this novel. Chapter 3 alone does an excellent job of addressing the concepts my 4th graders need to know, but interwoven throughout the whole text is the greater narrative of kids learning about VA’s past through a historical and honest lens…I cannot wait to read this book to my students!
A must read for students and adults! This book could not have come at a better time…sheds light on the important history of our nation, especially the mistakes of the past as well as the present.
My 11-year-old…was inspired by one of the character’s actions in this book which took courage and fortitude, and was not sure he would have been brave enough to do the same thing. It stimulated a great conversation about doing the right thing, even when it may have a personal cost.
The topic (racism) is difficult, but the author did a great job of making this topic interesting to all readers. He really explored the nuances of racial justice and how to be an ally. The book generated a lot of family discussion about history, social justice, racism, and about how NOT acting can be a big problem.
As a parent I was thankful to have this book open up a lot of discussions about topics that can be difficult to understand for young children.
With the events of today’s world of racial and social injustices, this book is a perfect read for students to take a glimpse into the past as the main characters learn about events of the 1959 school closing in a Virginia school system…Students will love reading about this topic as there are so many connections in today’s world, all written in a way in which they can understand and process. Smith has a way with words to make it real, showing the intense emotions and feelings present in 1959 yet done in a way which is appropriate and well written for children.
As an elementary librarian I love this series for my 3rd-5th grade students and the tie-in to many Virginia History SOLs is an added bonus! Pictures at the Protest is a great discussion starter for conversations about racism and events that kids have recently seen in their own cities.
