Book Review of Loving VS. Virginia: A Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Powell, Patricia. LOVING VS. VIRGINIA: A DOCUMENTARY NOVEL OF THE LANDMARK CIVIL RIGHTS CASE. Illustrated by Shadra Strickland. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. ISBN 9781452125909.

 

PLOT SUMMARY

Mildred “Millie” Jeter and Richard Loving meet, fall in love, and get married. Unfortunately, their relationship and love is looked down upon by white racists of their era, and their marriage is found to be illegal in the state within which they reside. Their ACLU lawyers appeal the original decision to a higher court. Their appeal finally reaches the Supreme Court, which rules in the favor of Mr. and Mrs. Loving.           

 

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

This book is an excellent introduction to life in the southern United States of the 1950’s and 1960’s, particularly regarding the race relationships between African-Americans and whites. The illustrations and visual additions to the text reinforce the racism of the time. It is amazing (in the worst possible meaning of the word) how racist certain portions of our country was in those days, and how that racism was upheld in courts of law. These representations are well-documented in this book. In fact, one of the best aspects of the book is how it contrasts the normal lives of Millie, Richard, their families, and friends with their dealings with the state of Virginia at the time. The narrative alternates between pleasant scenes of their everyday life with the racist machinations of the Virginia legal system. The author quotes racist judges and law enforcement officials who were trying their best to ruin the lives of Mr. and Mrs. Loving. These quotes show how endemic racism was in our society at that time, and how systemic racism was in our legal system. The author provides a timeline of the history of this case at the end of the book. She also did an excellent job of researching for this book. She made sure she got the story historically accurate and factual. All in all, this is a wonderful book to introduce young adult readers to the realities of our nation’s past. Unlike what some politicians and their constituency would prefer, there is no whitewashing of our nation’s history in this book!       

 

AWARDS AND REVIEW EXCERPTS

KIRKUS review: “In the early 1950s a boy and a girl in rural Virginia fell in love and got married… long court battles and final unanimous vindication in 1967 from the Warren Supreme Court fill the pages, detailing every particle of their strong feelings for each other and the equally strong bigotry of the… state judicial system… Strickland’s blue-, gray-, and yellow-toned illustrations have a strong retro feel and tenderly reinforce the written words.”

CONNECTIONS

* This book could be part of any discussion on the U.S. civil rights movement.   

* Other books related to this one:

Powell, Patricia. LIFT AS YOU CLIMB. ISBN 9781534406230.

Alko, Selina. THE CASE FOR LOVING: THE FIGHT FOR INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE. ISBN 9780545478533.

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