The Califf's of Baghdad, Georgia
Feb 10, 2011
Author: Mary Helen Stefaniak
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Publication Date: Sept. 2010
ISBN: 978-0-393-06310-3
Threestep, Georgia is a sleepy little Southern town where nothing exciting happens. Then one Fall in 1938 Ms. Gracie Spivey steps off the train as their new teacher and the town soon gets turned upside down.
Ms. Spivey has traveled the world and has great ideas for the knowledge she can share with her new students... and their parents. Gladys Califf, 11 years old and full of curiousity about the world thinks Ms. Spivey is the best thing to ever happen to the town. Others in the town aren't quite sure, especially when she starts teaching the children about other races, religions and ideals.
When Ms. Spivey decides to put on a full Baghdad Bazaar complete with Arabian Nights type costumes she suddenly finds herself going up against the town's prejudices and worse, the Ku Klux Klan.
This is a wonderful story about a town and it's people getting to experience sights and ideas never before encountered in their small circle of life. But it also contains the solemn reminder that people can be resistant to change and tolerance towards others.
