Thursday’s Children, a book by an old friend, Elisabeth
Pendley, is an unexpectedly compelling memoir of a young teacher at a
disadvantaged elementary school in the South in the 1960s. Thursday’s
Children left me distressed but hopeful. It is a fascinating window into
that transitional period between segregation and integration, when blacks and
whites—confronted with an upheaval in the old order—treated each other with
suspicion, if not outright hatred. It is also a story of how a closed
environment can be corrupted by indolence and lack of accountability. The
author gives us individual portraits of each of the children—their problems and
their progress. You find yourself rooting for this or that child to break
through the incredible obstacles to success. Also interesting is the picture given
of the manner in which human beings react to very difficult circumstances—some
with apathy, some with anxiety, some with courage. I recommend Thursday’s
Children to anyone wishing to understand more clearly the origin of some
current prejudices that have persisted—and the effect those prejudices can have
on children’s lives.
Find Thursday’s Children here:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Thursdays-Children-betrayed-defended-continues/dp/0578863812
