Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys

This book is a historical fiction story based on the author's ancestors and stories of their childhood. Narrated by the author's grandfather, C.C., this book tells the story four brothers that go to great lengths to attend school after their parents were recently freed from slavery after the Civil War. 

Virgie, their youngest sister, can't wait to begin school and spends all summer insisting that she is ready to join them. Soon, Virgie's parents decide that all people deserve an education and Virgie is ready to attend school with her brothers. On the first day of school, the children pack their bags for the week and take a seven-mile journey to school. Virgie was so excited to be there and she couldn't wait to bring all of her new knowledge home to her parents. 

I absolutely loved this book because of the inspiring and positive message about the power of education. It is an opportunity for students to examine the influence of race, gender, and social issues and their effect on education in the past and present. Additionally, the illustrations in the book are beautiful and truly draw the reader in, giving them a glimpse of the difficult journey these children had to take for the sake of their education. 

I think that this book would fit nicely in a classroom because it deals with ideas of determination and would be a great book for students that find it hard to stay motivated at school. Being able to understand the hardships that students in this time period had to overcome to get an education may push a child to value the education they are receiving more. Additionally, this book would be wonderful to incorporate into a social studies lesson on the Civil War and slavery. 

Virgie Goes to School with Us Boys 
By: Elizabeth Fitzgerald Howard 

Illustrated by: E. B. Lewis   
Published in 2000