# Separate Is Never Equal

**Author:** Duncan Tonatiuh
**Grade range:** Grades K–5
**First published:** 2014
**Page count:** 40
**Genre:** Picture Book
**ISBN-13:** `9781613126332`
**ISBN-10:** `1613126336`
**Canonical URL:** https://readinglist.school/book/separate-is-never-equal-sylvia-mendez-and-her-familys-fight-for-desegregation
**License:** [CC BY 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) — please credit ReadingList.school when citing.

## About this book

A 2015 Pura Belpré Illustrator Honor Book and a 2015 Robert F. Sibert Honor Book Almost 10 years before Brown vs. Board of Education, Sylvia Mendez and her parents helped end school segregation in California. An American citizen of Mexican and Puerto Rican heritage who spoke and wrote perfect English, Mendez was denied enrollment to a “Whites only” school. Her parents took action by organizing the Hispanic community and filing a lawsuit in federal district court. Their success eventually brought an end to the era of segregated education in California. Praise for Separate is Never Equal STARRED REVIEWS "Tonatiuh masterfully combines text and folk-inspired art to add an important piece to the mosaic of U.S. civil rights history." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review “Younger children will be out

## Where this book is assigned

### Pura Belpré Illustrator Award

- **recommended** · Kindergarten grade — [source: Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (ALA/ALSC + REFORMA), via Wikipedia — 2015 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 1st grade — [source: Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (ALA/ALSC + REFORMA), via Wikipedia — 2015 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 2nd grade — [source: Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (ALA/ALSC + REFORMA), via Wikipedia — 2015 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 3rd grade — [source: Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (ALA/ALSC + REFORMA), via Wikipedia — 2015 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 4th grade — [source: Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (ALA/ALSC + REFORMA), via Wikipedia — 2015 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)
- **recommended** · 5th grade — [source: Pura Belpré Illustrator Award (ALA/ALSC + REFORMA), via Wikipedia — 2015 Honor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pura_Belpr%C3%A9_Award)

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