Fall 2025

Fight for the Right to Read

Samuel Wilbert Tucker and the 1939 Sit-Down Strike for Library Reading Equality

  • Interest Level: Grade 2 - Grade 7
  • Reading Level: Grade 4

Award-winning author Jeff Gottesfeld and #OwnVoices co-writer Michelle Y. Green introduce us to another important historical figure who deserves to be better known.

Along with illustrator Kim Holt, Gottesfeld and Green bring vibrant life to the story of Wilbert Tucker who grew up in the segregated South and became a lawyer who loved to read. In 1939, he organized a sit-down-in-the-library protest to fight for the right to read along with the rest of the public. It took many court cases and years of fighting, but Tucker fought with words and conviction until everyone could sit and read in the public library.

Format Your Price Add
978-1-954354-33-3
On pre-order until 09/09/2025
$19.99
Available at all major wholesalers and distributors. Save 25% off list price on library bound hardcovers and all eBook and eBook with Audio editions when you buy direct! Digital purchases will be accessed on Lerner Digital Bookshelf. An account will be created for you after purchase.
Interest Level Grade 2 - Grade 7
Reading Level Grade 4
Genre Picture Books, Social Studies
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Narrative Nonfiction, Biography, Diverse Books: Race & Ethnicity, Diverse Books: Social Justice, Diversity, SEL: E Responsible Decision-Making, Social Emotional Learning
Copyright 2025
Publisher Creston Books
Imprint Creston Books
Language English
Number of Pages 36
Publication Date 2025-09-09
Text Type Narrative Nonfiction
BISACS JNF053270, JNF053140, JNF025210
Dimensions 11 x 9
Features Accessible layouts, Author/Illustrator note, Original artwork, Primary source quotations/images, and eSource

Author: Jeff Gottesfeld

Jeff Gottesfeld writes for page, stage, screen, and television. He’s won many awards, including ones from the American Library Association, the Association of Jewish Libraries, and the Writer’s Guild. His most recent title The Christmas Mitzvah was named a Sydney Taylor Honor Book. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Author: Michelle Y. Green

Michelle Y. Green is the author of several nonfiction picture books, illuminating important but little-known aspects of history. She lives in Maryland.

Illustrator: Kim Holt

Kim Holt is an artist and children’s book illustrator. Her passion for art and drawing started at an early age, fueled by her family’s love for the arts. She received her BBA in marketing from Howard University and her BFA in animation from the Academy of Art University. Her goal as an artist is to create images that bring back memories and create pictures that make children wish they were inside the scenes. She lives in Maryland with her family.