Tinker Vs. Des Moines: Student Rights on Trial (Be the Judge, Be the Jury)
When three students wore black armbands to school in 1965 to protest the Vietnam War and were expelled from school in Des Moines, Iowa, they brought a lawsuit against the school board which eventually was carried to the Supreme Court. Young readers are invited to participate in the historic Supreme Court decision in 1969 that extended First Amendment Rights to public school students. The details of the court case are presented chronologically, along with excerpts of the actual testimony, and at frequent intervals readers are asked to make a judgment based on the evidence presented. Black-and-white photographs of the real people involved in the case, as well as from daily school life at Roosevelt High in the mid-1960s, add to the book's appeal and accessibility. Brief interviews with both the plaintiffs and defendants conducted 27 years after the decision include comments from each concerning how the case changed their lives. An impressively researched and ingeniously crafted presentation of a topic of special importance to its intended audience. (Be the Judge, Be the Jury). ©1993 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 11 and older
Age Range:
Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-13)
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Substantial Narrative Non-Fiction
Subjects:
20th Century
Activism and Resistance
Free Speech
History (Nonfiction)
Judicial System
School
U.S. History
Vietnam War
Publisher:
HarperCollins
Publish Year: 1993
Pages: 153
ISBN: 0060251182
CCBC Location: Non-Fiction, 342 Rappaport