The Cailiffs of Baghdad, Georgia

In 1938, a new teacher came to the one-room schoolhouse in Threestep, GA, courtesy of the Works Progress Administration (WPA). The story of Miss Grace Spivey, who was educated in France and at Barnard College and traveled in Africa and the Near East, is told by thoroughly entranced 11-year-old Gladys Cailiff. Miss Spivey uses Sir Richard F. Burton's ten-volume The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night as her primary textbook. After a successful Halloween event, held a day early so as not to conflict with the activities of the "Ku Klucks," Miss Spivey even manages a full-fledged Baghdad Bazaar, complete with camels. If that's not enough, she is seen spending her free time educating the local black children, including mechanically gifted Theo Boykin, who creates the special effects for the bazaar. Gladys's young voice is perfect for showing how folks thrive and struggle when such a force enters the mainstream, as she herself questions where the lines are drawn and how easily they can be shifted.