Free to Learn: How Alfredo Lopez Fought for the Right to Go to School

(Hardback)

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Description

From the author of the award-winning The Youngest Marcher comes a picture book about the true story of Alfredo Lopez, an undocumented boy involved in a landmark Supreme Court case that still ensures childrens right to education today.

Alfredo Lopez has so many questions before starting second grade! Will his friends be in his class Will his teacher speak Spanish But then his parents tell him that he has to stay home, and Alfredos questions change. Why cant he go to school with the other kids And why is his family going to the courthouse

In 1977, the school district of Tyler, Texas, informed parents that, unless they could provide proof of citizenship, they would have to pay for their children to attend public school. Four undocumented families fought back in a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. Alfredo was one of the students involved in Plyler v. Doe, which made a difference for children all over the country for years to come.

Author Bio

Cynthia Levinson is the author of nonfiction books for young readers that focus on social justice, includingThe Youngest Marcher,The Peoples Painter, andFault Lines in the Constitution. Her books have received the Sibert Medal, the Carter G. Woodson Book Award, the Jane Addams Childrens Book Award, and numerous other honors. She has two daughters, two sons-in-law, four grandchildren, and two grand-dogsall of whom are thoroughly splendid. Cynthia and her husband divide their time between Austin and Boston, which, helpfully, rhyme, in case she gets lost.

Mirelle Ortegais a Mexican writer and artist based in Los Angeles. She is the author-illustrator ofMagic: Once Upon a Faraway Land, a Pura Belpr Honor Book,and the illustrator of several books, includingSmall Room, Big Dreams: The Journey of Julin and Joaquin Castroby Monica Brown andFree to Learnby Cynthia Levinson.Mirelle has a BFA in digital art and 3D animation from the Tecnolgico de Monterrey in Mexico and an MFA from Academy of Art University in San Francisco.