Freedom Lessons!
Silver Medal for The Sarton Award!
Historical Fiction Finalist
Illuminating and Gripping: An exceptional story of the 1960’s Jim Crow South
Amy Hill Hearth, New York Times bestselling author
““Debut novelist Sanchez has crafted a moving and timely story, based on her own experiences, about school integration in the South in 1969 and the issues that still linger today. This powerful tale offers a beacon of hope that individuals can inspire change.”
–Library Journal Premium Review
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Read a recent interview by reviewer and blogger - Annie Horsky Mc Donnell
““[A] potent illustration of the formidable obstacles to equality that remained—and persist—post-Brown v. Board of Education.”
—Kirkus Reviews”
“a deftly crafted novel that, although a work of fiction, is based on the author Eileen Sanchez’ personal experience teaching in Louisiana in the late sixties. “Freedom Lessons” is heartfelt, unflinching novel, and inherently riveting novel about the unexpected effects of school integration during that time takes on the issues our nation continues to face regarding race, unity, and identity. ”
“Told in alternating viewpoints, this impressive novel reaches back in time to the early days of school integration, and to a place in America where resistance to integration was substantial.”
A heartfelt, unflinching novel about the unexpected effects of school integration in 1960’s Louisiana. This story has striking resonances with the issues our nation currently faces regarding race, unity, and identity.
Louisiana, 1969. Colleen, a white northern teacher enters into the unfamiliar culture of a small southern town and its unwritten rules as the town surrenders to mandated school integration. Frank, a black high school football player, protects his family with a secret. Can Evelyn, a prized member of the black community put aside her distrust and value Colleen’s unproven efforts?
Told alternately, by Colleen, an idealistic young white teacher; Frank, a black high school football player and Evelyn, an experienced black teacher, Freedom Lessons ~ A Novel is the story of how the lives of these three very different people intersect in a rural Louisiana town in 1969.
Colleen enters into the culture of the rural Louisiana town with little knowledge of the customs and practices. She is compelled to take sides after the school is integrated - an overnight event for which the town’s residents are unprepared and which leads to confusion and anxiety in the community - and her values are tested as she seeks to understand her black colleagues, particularly Evelyn. Why doesn’t she want to integrate the public schools? Frank, meanwhile, is determined to protect his mother and siblings after his father’s suspicious death - which means keeping a secret from everyone around him.
The author taught in Louisiana in 1969-70, and the story is based on her experience there.
New Orleans Riverboat 1969
About Eileen
Freedom Lessons - A Novel is a fictionalized version of the year I spent teaching in a rural Louisiana town in the late 1960s.
My life's work has been as an advocate for free, appropriate and respectful educational opportunity for all students.
I am retired after a forty-year career in public education.
Freedom Lessons - A Novel will appeal to readers who enjoy historical fiction and those interested in a broader view of our current civil rights and public school challenges.
History could guide us if we would only listen.
"She heard his shout over a rumbling noise that vibrated the metal walls of the trailer. Confused and worried that he was in trouble she threw open the trailer door to find him sitting on a motorcycle with a helmet on his head and one in his hand."
"Her resolve to make the best of the situation faded. The inside of the trailer was like an oven with the sun beating down on the metal enclosure. She dropped the box she was carrying and sat as she broke into tears."
"Turquoise is a color I like to wear, not live in. We decided not to go to New Orleans for a honeymoon. Instead, we went to Sears to buy an air conditioner."
“Don’t look so shocked,Colleen," Evelyn said. "Some folks think we should be grateful that we have a Negro school: 'Separate but Equal'. My friend had to set up a new classroom in a white school this year and she found out that they store the books in different stockrooms. If they can’t even mix the books, how will they mix the students and the teachers?”
—Freedom Lessons