Alice Piper Speaks Up

Alice Piper Speaks Up
Hardcover, 9 x 7, 112 pages | Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9781597147057.

By Loralee Sepsey , Morgan Thompson , Sage Andrew Romero

Volume 3 in the acclaimed Fighting for Justice Series for young readers: the story of a Native teenager’s history-making fight for equal education.

Alice Piper just wanted to go to public school. The year was 1923, and Alice, a Native Paiute (Nuwuvi) teenager in California, dreamed about learning from teachers, making new friends, and being respected for who she was. So when the school board refused to let her and six other Native students attend, she decided to speak up, and she sued for her right to an equal education. Alice Piper Speaks Up, the first book dedicated to this major champion of civil rights, features new research into Alice’s life and court case. Each chapter begins with lyrical verse and full-color illustrations that invite readers into Alice’s story. Paired with the poems are visually engaging sections filled with keyword definitions, historical context, timelines, primary sources, and questions that help readers relate Alice’s experience to their own lives. The text connects Alice’s case to larger themes about education, Native rights, and movements for school desegregation across the United States. The third book in Heyday’s widely acclaimed Fighting for Justice series, Alice Piper Speaks Up shows how one teen’s action resonates throughout America’s history, even now.

About the Authors

Loralee Sepsey

Loralee Sepsey

Loralee Sepsey is a writer and a member of the Big Pine Paiute Tribe of the Owens Valley. Based in Santa Ana, California, she lives with her husband and their two cats.

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson

Morgan Thompson is a Cherokee (Cherokee Nation) artist with a love for Indigenous stories. When she’s not working, she enjoys a bit of stomp dancing or some beading on the side. (Photo by Kristine Thompson)

Sage Andrew Romero

Sage Andrew Romero

Sage Andrew Romero is from the Tovowahamatu Numu (Big Pine Paiute) and Tuah-Tahi (Taos Pueblo) tribes. The founder and director of the AkaMya Culture Group, a nonprofit dedicated to cultural revitalization, he lives in Big Pine, California. (Photo by Erin Baiano)

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