Beautiful and heartbreaking, a testament to the struggles and strength of real women I may have never had the pleasure of hearing about otherwise. The graphics were stunning, some of the best illustrations I have seen inside a book. It had a dreamy, almost Disney-like atmosphere. I thoroughly enjoyed it, my only complaint is that certain details did get a little confusing but the afterword was helpful. I may even go back and look at it again now that I know more about the real people it's based on. The cover was also very eye-catching. I am not a very big graphic novel person, but if I saw this at a bookstore I may have actually bought it despite the fact I usually don't ever read graphic novels.

Thank you NetGalley and Europe Comics for the advance digital reading copy of this book.

This graphic novel depicting the story of the Canterbury Female Boarding School and the lives of the black female students that attended the school was fantastic. I truly appreciated the information about the students contained in the afterword.

This book has an easy to read format and the illustrations were wonderful. This book should be added to history curriculum's throughout North America.

An extremely touching and full of life lessons nook. Prudence Crandall’s Canterbury Female Boarding school is the first school in Canterbury 1832 that will focus in providing some classes to young black ladies. Prudence Crandall teaches anyone who wants to learn. She helped her African American students, and this made the other residents of the village oppose her actions and treat both Ms Crandall and the children terribly. These residents refused to tolerate a school for young women of color. Despite this hateful reaction, she continued to operate the school.
The public and legal reaction to Prudence Crandall’s school not only illuminates what was happening to African-American citizenship in that region, but also a general trend within New England to restrict the rights of free people of colour.
Inhabitants in Canterbury continued to sabotage Crandall’s school. Following a mob assault, she was forced to close the school. Ms. Crandall continued her interest in the reform movement throughout the rest of her life.
Overall, it was a fantastic story told enthusiastically through a very nice artwork, full of colour and warmth.

(4.5)
Prudence Crandall runs a boarding school for girls for white girls, until one day one girl of _color_ asked her a question about a stick in the water. The curiosity of it makes her wonder several things about what is wrong and good. So Prudence accepted the black girl in her school and the problems began. The whole town when crazy trying to understand that situation, but Prudence Crandall wanted to change things. More black students arrive and making everything worst.

I did not know the real story that is basically this book (plus that little boy) and it was hard to read in some parts when people from the town attacked them and you can feel the helplessness there.

I loved the illustrations and the colors on every page with a style of old children's books. It was a delight to see and enjoy the frames and knowing more about the real persons behind this story.

The story could be raw and cruel in some parts and with an ending "not so fairy tale", but the characters and their interactions between them made the whole situation a new experience. The slavery was legal in those times and some black people were free but not entirely.

In conclusion, "All white around" is a real story that you have to read sometime in your life, it's worth reading.

First of all I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with this graphic novel, white all around, he tells us how a colored girl begins to ask herself questions about why when you put a stick in the water it gives the illusion of being crooked, when in In reality it is not like that, so she makes the decision to go where the teacher who runs a school for white girls, where only the daughters of the slavers went, the teacher makes the decision to include the girl in her class, to teach her and other girls of color who want to learn, however this decision is hampered by whites, who are not willing for these girls to learn, so they will do everything in their power to scare the girls away.

At first the drawing did not attract me so much but if the story, to the point that I could not stop reading, shows a crude reality, which unfortunately still exists in some sectors of the world, it shows us how people blame others for their evils. just for being different, no matter who they hurt. There is a scene that broke my heart, it was the breaking point, no one apologized, those who did not know were made, and when they finally achieved their goal they were surprised. When I get to the end of the story I like to know that it is based on real characters, I liked being able to learn more and in a way as interactive as a graphic novel is, despite having a bittersweet ending, it leaves us with a touch that A slight change was achieved with the girls, although it is small, something was achieved with them, who managed to have knowledge despite everything.
for me this book deserves 5 stars out of 5, a compelling story, and that leaves you with a learning.

In Wilfrid Lupano's new graphic novel, African Americans may be free, but they are still shunned, discriminated against, and persecuted.

Miss Crandall's school for girls is a popular fixture in Canterbury, Connecticut . . . until she decides to accept black students. The villagers quickly turn on her, and show their displeasure in many ways from cutting off food supplies to more violent acts. There is page after wordless page filled with nothing but the angry, hate-filled faces of the townsfolk - which says far more than words ever could.

Stephane Fert's artwork is gorgeous, and looks more like children's book illustrations than typical graphic novel cartoons.

Sadly, the ending is not as lovely as the pictures, though the desire to learn has been kindled in the girls, and it seems they will continue their educations (and share their lessons), in other ways.

There is an extensive afterward explaining the history behind the story.

*Note - As of right now, this seems to be available only as an e-comic, which is a shame, as I'd love to buy a paper copy for my local library.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for letting me view this beautiful book.

This graphic novel shared a story that I had never heard of before and that, I feel like, should be told more. It is also shocking and disheartening to see how the world was in those years and to realize that, in some ways, it hasn't changed as much as we would've liked.

The illustrations were great. The color palette and the soft lines were extremely satisfying and peaceful to look at. The only negative comment I have is that the text wasn't completely clear, which made reading slightly harder.

Finally, I appreciated the afterword that was included. Knowing the true story this graphic novel was based on and where our characters ended up later in their lives was really interesting.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a story that deserves to be told and the illustration style is beautiful, but somehow it just didn't work for me. I found it hard to follow and very hard to get into.

White All Around tells the story of Prudence Crandall's Canterbury Female Boarding School.. Ms Crandall opened up her school for the education of black girls in the 1830s. This did not go over well with the other white residents of Canterbury, Connecticut This is an interesting enough story without subplots that were underdeveloped.

It's a shame because the illustration is beautiful, but the text lets it down.

Thanks to Netgalley and Europe Comics for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

To start, the colour palette and artwork are beautiful, I just had this feeling that this wasn't an own voices story. It was a very white centric graphic novel - the school mistress, the townsfolk, the witch in the forest? The black characters all felt like extras, which was such a shame. I'm pretty sure Wilfrid Lupano is a white author, which is perhaps why the story felt quite muddled and lacking focus. It's beautiful and I learnt about an interesting historical character - Prudence Crandall. But Prudence Crandall is white, and the novel delves into white saviour territory. There's an afterword that reveals a lot more of the history of the women who attended the boarding school, but I'd have loved the overall graphic novel to have centred on these women's stories.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Europe Comics for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“White All Around” is an historical graphic novel set in Canterbury, Connecticut - in 1830s - where Prudence Candall is a teacher in a school of white girls. Prudence decided to change something and introduce in her course Sarah Harris. She is a black woman that lives in the same town of Prudence.

People of the local community didn’t take the news so well and order Prudence to stop.this "inclusion". But, the teacher doesn't give up and starts a new class for black women only. She tried hard for their school to become legal, (even going to jail for a few days)

A story about racism, courage and inclusivity.

The art style reminded me a faitytale. The stroke is blurred and the colors are "soft".

What if the solution to xenophobia was education?
“White All Around” by Wilfrid Lupano & art by Stéphane Fert is an eye opening historical graphic novel with beautiful illustrations. I fell in love with the cover, I knew the story looked very promising and totally in my tastes and I was not disappointed!

What is this Story about?

This graphic novel tells about a real event in America, where a respected and beloved school teacher in the 1800s decided to change path. From holding a middle class boarding school for white young ladies she tried to swap to African descent young ladies. She believed there was more of a need, and there really was. But the town turned on her in a way she never foresaw. It is a terribly sad tale that needs to be heard and that resonates so much today.

Racism was rampant at the time and the small mindedness of the town people hurts. What is truly frightening is to see how little has changed in a way. The problem is still the same. The education system is terrible in America, people in poor regions have sub-par education. An unspoken segregation is taking place between social classes, which can often be summarised into minorities at the bottom, given poor education and kept far enough from the white higher middle class to still be treated as “others”. It is a true horror story. And the only thing that can change mentalities is open mindedness which comes from equal education and equal opportunities. But I’m losing myself in the message.

How are the illustrations?

The drawing style is dynamic with a look similar to sketches for the early Disney princess animation films. It is textured like real pastel chalk on paper. And the colours are wonderful with lovely earthy soft rose tones contrasting with a dark teal throughout. There is something whimsical about it, with lovely rounded shapes, all in curves, that makes the tough message so much more palatable.

I guess that’s because we feel like we are viewing things from those young ladies’ eyes and they are young, full of hope and dreams and ready to stand up for their beliefs. That’s something quite beautiful and it deserves the colourful, feminine design it has. I truly enjoyed the curves and elegance and softness of this comic and hope to see a lot more from that artist.

I recommend this book to all who loved Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog”, the girl classics like “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett but also the books about other women who lived in persecution like “The Diary Of a Young Girl” by Anne Frank. This is a very strong graphic novel and I truly believe it should go into every hands.

This was a wonderful graphic novel. The artwork is stunning and the story is moving. It's a story that needs to be told. I live near this school and did not know about it. Now I need to find the museum and visit when we're allowed to again. Definitely a must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Publishers for this ARC

I adore this graphic novel and to be honest it is one I am going to have to buy for my shelf. The story of Prudence Candall and her students and was beautifully portrayed. The strength and courage these women had was truly inspirational.

I read it again with my 7 year old son, and he paid attention to the illustrations and what they depicted and he was shocked that this had happened, the cruelty, how unaccepting we were. To be honest that shock was what you want to see; that is how we know we as a society have grown. The notes after the novel about the women and the lives they led after this tragedy was a beautiful edition.

Thank you for such a wonderful graphic novel. I gave it five stars would have given it more if i could.

One of the things that I really like about the books that Europe Comics puts out is that they're often inspired by real historical figures and events, even if they go on to do their own thing. I like this aspect of their books because it normally leads me to discovering something I never knew about a famous figure, or to discover a whole topic I've never heard about. White All Around falls into this second category, introducing me to an amazing part of history that I had no idea existed, but now want to learn so much more about.

The story follows school teacher Prudence Crandall, who runs a small boarding school for young woman in Caterbury, Connecticut in the 1830's. She's a well liked and well respected member of the local community, but this all changes one day when she decides to open her school to Black women. It begins when she welcomes Sarah into her classroom, a local girl who's been coming to her to ask questions and learn.

As you can expect from a period before slavery was made illegal, this does not go down well with the local community, or the parents of her white students. Knowing that she's going to be facing an almost impossible task of creating a learning environment for both Black and white students Prudence does the only thing she can, she makes her school exclusively for Black women. Thus begins her long battle to help and educate Black women from across the country, and the trials she faces as a result (some of them literal legal trials).

The book doesn't really spend a lot of time with Prudence, however, treating her more as a supporting character rather than the lead in the story. Much more of the focus is given over to a handful of her first students, framing the narrative around their experiences. There's Sarah, a local woman who travels to the school every day to attend classes, Eliza, Jeruska, Maggie, and her sister Dorothy, who've all travelled to attend the school. There's also Maria, who works for Prudence, but has chosen not to attend the school. It's through these women that we witness events unfold, whilst Prudence is in the background working for her rights to teach these women.

This mixture of characters are quite a fun group, as they're all very different from each other and often disagree on a lot of things. Through their discussions and arguments we get to see their different opinions on their education, the actions of the townsfolk, and things like religion and their own personal beliefs. Their religion is a fairly major secondary plot, as throughout the book we see Eliza being somewhat unwilling to pray with the others, and at one point the entire school is banned from attending the local church due to their race. But this story-line reaches a head when Eliza reveals that she prays deep in the woods, surrounded by nature, and that she believes god to be a beautiful Black woman. It's a beautiful moment where Eliza gets to talk about her belief in her version of god, and of the strength she and other women of colour have. Her faith gives her a sense of power and strength that she'd otherwise go without.

There are a lot of wonderful moments like this throughout the book, moments that look at the individual and persona struggles of being a Black person in a time where half the country still owned slaves, where you're being legislated against and hunted. There's a character called Feral, a young boy living in the woods, who has memorised the confession of Nat Turner and believes that he can truly be free running alone in nature. Through him we see a young man who's fighting against the society around him so that he can be himself, and even though he's doing no harm to anyone he's persecuted because of the colour of his skin.

The book has some wonderful artwork too, provided by Stephane Fert, who's style adds a certain degree of magic to the book. Instead of making things hyper realistic the book has an almost fairy tale quality to it. The characters are almost caricatures, with distinct and over the top looks, whilst the environments look like places out of a children's book, with the woods around the school having more in common with a wonderland forest than a real world place. But this style really helps the book. It makes what is at times a harsh and upsetting story easier to handle. There are points in the book that enraged me because of the injustice that these people had to face, if these moments were drawn in a more realistic style it would have made it harder to read; as it is, the moments of happiness and levity feel the more stronger and leave the book feeling hopeful and sweet.

White All Around is a great story, one that takes a little known part of history and gives it the spotlight, inspiring the reader to want to learn more about these people and the times they lived in.

I absolutely loved the story!! I have been studying about slavery through other books like Toni Morrison‘a Beloved, and this graphic novel gives another perspective on slavery, but also on how women are viewed as well. The drawings are brilliantly drawn, and gives you a sense of the atmosphere during that time period of American History. I would love to have a physical copy of the text, as it would be a great collection piece to have as an English literature student.

I liked this novel. It told a story that I had never heard before, and it needs to be told. The art in this novel was great, I loved the color scheme. I was very happy to see the historical notes at the end of the book. I liked knowing that the characters in the novel I read were real people, not figments of the author’s imagination.

Canterbury, Connecticut in the 1830s. Prudence Crandall runs a boarding school for girls - white girls, that is. When Crandall, herself white, starts accepting black students, the town collectively freaks out. This doesn't stop Crandall, more black students arrive, and the situation escalate.

I had never heard of this story, and it is an interesting one. The book is nicely paced, and the illustrations are in the style of 1950s children's books, which is very charming.

Not a story with a happy ending, but worth reading.

White All Around tells the intersection of the notorious result of well-documented racism in the South with Nat Turner's rebellion alongside lesser-known racism up North. When Prudence Crandall School takes in a student of color, and then only accepts Black girls, the townspeople have their own violent revenge shadowing Turner's, which forces us to think about who writes heroes and villains in history.

The art is just gorgeous, it gives life to flat dialogue which could be boosted with more context that we as a reader don't get until the end. Visually breaking up and highlighting changes in time or space would have helped readers more easily navigate the story.

First and foremost I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this graphic novel. I found in those pages, filled with emotions and colours, an important piece of history that I could not imagined actually happened.
Settled in the early 1830s, the story follows a young woman, Miss Crandall, who heads and teaches a boarding school for sole girls in Connecticut. As the stories goes on, we see how she tries to change her society mindsets by converting her school in a safe place for young black women to study and know each others.
I personally loved the story and the extraordinary illustrations. The author has used a colour palette that creates a perfect bond between what happens and what the characters must have felt at that moment.

Its absolutely appalling to me that the events in the graphic novel were based on true events. It is also horrific that this is the first time I am even learning about these events! It really opened my eyes, and has made me want to learn more. That is one thing I love about books -- they're not only entertaining, but they are educational as well.

The illustrations were very well done. They're very colorful, but will say a few illustrations were a little more graphic than I had anticipated.