By Deborah Hopkinson, Illustrated by Ron Husband ( Disney Hyperion – 2017 )

Based on true events of Mr. Reverend John Berry Meachum (1789-1854}. When James first started school, his sister practically had to drag him there. His teacher, Mr. Meachum, told James “We make our own light here.” Although hard work and learning his students did, their school was shut down by a new law forbidding African American education in Missouri. Determined to continue teaching his students, Mr. Meachum built a new school- a floating school on the Mississippi River, just outside the boundary of the unjust law.

Reverend John Berry Meachum (1789-1854}氏の実話に基ずく物語。James が初めて学校へ行くことになったのも、姉が強引に彼を連れて行ってからだ。 Meachum 先生はJamesに「我々自身の希望を持てるように、勉強は必要だ」と教えてくれた。一生懸命励み勉強したにも関わらず、ミズりー州の新しい法律でアフリカ系アメリカ人への教育が禁止され、学校は閉鎖された。生徒達への教育の変わらぬ熱意により、Meachum 先生は新たな学校を作った。それは、ミズリー州の法律の支配外にある、ミシシッピー河に浮ぶ船の学校であった。