Dear America: With the Might of Angels: The Diary of Dawnie Rae Johnson, Hadley, Virginia, 1954

By Andrea Davis Pinkney

Scholastic Inc | ISBN 9781338530957 Paperback
336 Pages | 5.25" x 7.56" | Ages 8 to 12

Scholastic Inc | ISBN 9780545388061 Ebook
336 Pages | Ages 8 to 12

Bestselling author and Coretta Scott King Award winner Andrea Davis Pinkney presents a moving fictional account of school desegregation in the Civil Rights Era.

Twelve-year-old Dawnie Rae Johnson's life turns upside down after the Supreme Court rules in favor of desegregation in the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education. Her parents decide that Dawnie will attend Prettyman Coburn, a previously all-white school — but she'll be the only one of her friends to enroll in this new school.

Not everyone in Dawnie's town of Hadley, Virginia, supports integration, though, and much of the community is outraged by the decision. As she starts school, Dawnie encounters the harsh realities of racism. But the backlash against her arrival at Prettyman Coburn is more than she's prepared for, and she begins to wonder if the hardship is worth it. Will Dawnie be able to hold on to the true meaning of justice and remain faithful to her own sense of integrity?

Raves & reviews:

"Funny, determined, and insightful, With the Might of Angels introduces a new generation of kids to an important period in American history. This wonderful fictional character and her real-life heroes will inspire generations to come." — Sharon Robinson, critically acclaimed author of The Hero Two Doors Down

"Dawnie is a wonderfully drawn character whose lively and poignant diary entries — including letters to her hero, Jackie Robinson — detail her dreams, fears, frustrations, and achievements, personalizing segregation's and integration's diverse impacts." -- Booklist

"Outstanding . . . Pinkney paints a vivid picture." — Kirkus Reviews