During slavery, some African Americans would secretly gather in the dark of night to learn how to read. Young Rosa isn't sure why her mother is waking her the first time they attend a school in a hole dug into the earth. But she soon becomes an eager student. Then comes word two men were caught early in the morning on their way back from the school and severely punished. Rosa's mother is too afraid to go back, but Rosa grows more insistent as time passes, and they finally return. At first they are the only students, and when they hear approaching footsteps, Rosa imagines "a lash for each letter" she's learned. Courage and self-determination are the big themes of a vivid story that stays rooted in Rosa's perspective. The drama is enhanced by the plays of dark and light in the deeply toned illustrations. An author's note provides additional information on pit schools. (Ages 5-8)

Rosa and her mama go to school together-in the dark of night, silently, afraid that any noise they hear is a patroller on the lookout for escaped slaves. Their school is literally a hole in the ground, where they and other slaves of all ages gather to form letters out of sticks, scratch letters in the dirt, and pronounce their sounds in whispers. Young Rosa is eager to learn the letters and then the words, because after the words comes reading. But she must have patience, her mama reminds her, and keep her letters to herself when she's working on the plantation. If the Master catches them, it'll mean a whipping-one lash for each letter. No matter how slow and dangerous the process might be, Rosa is determined to learn, and pass on her learning to others.