Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Calkins Creek Books for allowing this view of the book, WIthout Separation by Larry Dane Brimner, in exchange for an honest review.

The case of Roberto Alvarez gives us insight into racism as it was in a part of California in the 1930's. Librarians and teachers will be able to use this book to discuss diversity and tolerance through the lenses of the families who stood up for themselves and the children.

The beautiful colors of the illustrations are mesmerizing and memorable. Even though the children have concern on their faces throughout the book, you can feel the reflection of warmth and kindness.

This is a wonderful book that details the legal battles over school integration for Mexican-American students. The illustrations are beautiful, and give life to the characters and settings in the book. As an educator, I am passionate about. including diverse prospectives in the classroom, and I teach topics that focus on equity and social justice. The people and story in this book would make a great fit to my classroom social justice curriculum. Thank you for sharing this with me!

As soon as I finished this book, I preordered it for my classroom. I think it is important for kids to see that segregation didn’t happen only for blacks. Also, to stand up for what is right even if you are the only one standing up.

Did you know that Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education had a precedent? In 1931 Lemon Grove's board of trustees decide that the Mexican American children could no longer attend their school because it was slowing the education of the white students. The board's solution was to build a second smaller school for these students to attend on Olive St. The parents of the impacted students had heard rumors during the winter break that this was likely and so instructed their children to return home if refused entrance to their school instead of going to the new school on Olive St. The parents of the children denied entry based on the color of their skin brought a law suit against the Lemon Grove Board of Trustees in the California court systems. Their victory helped to pave the way for school desegregation in other locations. The illustrations brought the story alive. Their are bright, colorful, and help to demonstrate the diffrence in the schools for young readers. The authors note would make a wonderful starting point for anyone looking to turn this into a lesson for a social studies classroom. Their is also an extensive additional sources section to help those that want additional information about this case that is so crucial to history but I personally was unaware of until now.

Without Separation
by Larry Dane Brimner
The political case of immigration fears is not a new story. This 1920's case over separation of students because of race is one of many examples that this is a long seeded problem. The book focuses on the case of Lemon county forcing its Mexican and Mexican American children to be segregated to a lesser school built to house them and separate them from the white students. Although the politics of the times tried to use influence from Mexico as their defense their case was over thrown and the students returned to their local schools. Segregation is not a new topic and has happened many many times to all groups.
The pictures are very simple in the design but remonstrant of the great Mexican murals in the capital building of Mexico city.

This picture book tells the story of a group of Mexican American children fighting for equal education without being segregated from their White peers. The story is straight forward and easy to follow and the text is very objective. The illustrations are bright and colorful and really enhance the feel of the story. While I wasn't wowed by the book, it's a solid, quality offering. The Author's Note at the end explains in much greater depth what was happening at the time and includes multiple pictures from the time period along with what happened to several of the children after the story ends. There's sources cited as well so the reader can do further research if they desire.

Overall, a solid, quality offering that doesn't overwhelm or stand out. 3 stars.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

I was really excited to receive this book because I’ve never heard of Roberto Alvarez and what happened at Lemon Grove. I feel like often times when children are learning about history we really only focus on one big case and then move on to the next topic when in reality there are tons of smaller cases that are just as important that we never get to talk about.

I felt like this was super informative and would be super easy for a child to understand. Some of the pages did have pretty long paragraphs so this would definitely be better for children around grade 3.

At the end of the book, the author includes a long note and goes into more detail about the case and those involved. He also includes pictures of Alberto, the principal, the mother, the school, and a class picture. He also has listed all of the sources that he used to create this book. It seems like a lot of research and time was put into creating an accurate picture book which I appreciated.

Honestly, this book was informative for me so I’d definitely recommend it for any age that is able to understand what the case is about. I think this would be a great book to read when discussing segregation in school as this was the first successful school desegregation court decision in the history of the United States.

***review will be posted on blog closer to release date***

I was excited to read this one because it was a story I was not previously aware of, but the writing felt elementary to me. I wanted to love it but I was left feeling a little disappointed in the tone--I know it was meant to be informative but it felt a bit like talking down to kids. I did appreciate the in-depth author's note at the back though.

Overall I think this would be an interesting book to add to a collection, but I'm not sure it's the right fit for our library at this time.

I really enjoyed Without Separation, This book is informative and written and can easily be implemented for lesson plans from Kinder to upper Elementary school. I had never heard of the story of Robert Alvarez before and with everything going on in the world it is important to show that discrimination sadly happens everywhere no matter what their race. I love that it shows a young child standing up for what they believe is right! The information fact pages that are included are a great way to further discuss the story. This book will be a great addition to my lesson. The art work is beautiful to reminds me of the murals I would see often in DTLA.

How often children at school are taught about Ruby Bridges and her valiant effort to stand for her rights to attend a school without segregation.? As monumental as Ruby’s story is in teaching about equal rights, so should be the story of Roberto Alvarez. What a beautifully illustrated book to accompany such an important story. The historical note at the end is essential so a book can be used at upper elementary levels as well as lower elementary. Well done!