num_pages: 40
description: Rosa and her mama go to school togetherin 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 shes working on the plantation. If the Master catches them itll mean a whippingone 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.
language: English
title: Light in the Darkness: A Story about How Slaves Learned in Secret
publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers