It is a longer read, therefore I would have student read different sections then all get together and share them with one another. Therefore when a teacher read this story to the class or students read it they can better visualize the time period. It fully understand this time period, it can be hard for some children to completely understand and grasp the whole image of segregation and being poor. This book would be helpful when teaching about the Nineteenth-century and about race. Bolden bases her account of Lyons life in Maritcha on the memoir set down by the. For things Bolden does not know, she makes sure to say 'This is what it would be like', not saying this is exactly what it was for Maritcha. Bolden, Tonya 1959- (Tonya Wilyce Bolden)PersonalBorn March 1, 1959. The images help 4th graders or adults who read this understand and visualize the time period, allowing us to better understand it. As Bolden’s Maritcha shows us, personal goals and community engagement involve difficulties and require perseverance.

Review by Jane Fuscellaro: Maritcha is a beautiful story that takes you back in time to the nineteenth-century. The memoir, in turn, fell into the hands of author Tonya Bolden and the rest is 'Maritcha: A Nineteenth-Century American Girl'.

This story is a good interpretation of what it was like for a black child in the nineteenth-century. When she grew up she became the assistant principal at Brooklyn's Public School No. Not everything is know about Maritcha, but Tonya Bolden does an excellent job of putting the pieces together and giving example of what might have been.

Summary of Professional Reviews: This story is full of rich and and detailed facts. Based on an unpublished memoir written by Lyons, who was born and raised in New York City, this poignant story tells what it was like to be a Black child born. Born free in New York in a slavery-divided nation, Maritcha Remond Lyons was determined to rise above the restrictions of a biased society. Maritcha became a teacher and wrote a memoir. Summary: Maritcha is the story of the life of Maritcha, a black girl, who overcame many challenges life brought her to be the first black person to graduate from providence High.

Maritcha by Tonya Bolden