DEAD END SCHOOL

by Robert Coles ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 1968

Kids may not recognize the designation ""dead end"" but many of them will recognize the crumbling, overcrowded, apathetic school it refers to, and if they don't identify specifically with sixth-grader Jim, who's little more than a pawn, they'll sympathize with his point of view. Jim's class is about to be transferred arbitrarily from one decrepit school to another and his long-suffering mother determines not to let her child be ""brushed under the rug"" any more; she contacts a minister and other mothers and together they take a stand which results in Jim and some of the others being bussed across town to a good white school. The situation is the story; it is also the occasion for illustrating and voicing current, sometimes conflicting, attitudes among Negroes. Jim's bitter friend Larry, neglected at home, is jut sitting school out; he's scornful of ""white teachers (who) don't care about us,"" also scornful of Jim for ""walk(ing) off."" Jim himself is nervous and embarrassed when his mother turns militant; at the new school, however, his suspicion of the determined friendliness is offset by his delight in having a desk of his own and clean new books. . . . The author of Children of Crisis lets a child tell it in language simple enough for a third grader and direct enough for a twelve-year-old; there hasn't been a steady fix on a situation like it.

Pub Date: April 18, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1968

Categories: FICTION