The Story of Ruby Bridges
Author: Robert Coles
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Copyright: 1995
Pages: 26
Reading Level: 3
Genre: History/Non-Fiction Picture Book
Rating: ****

Summary:
Ruby Bridges was born in a small town in Mississippi. Around the age of four, her family packed up and moved to New Orleans to find work, her father became a janitor and her mother scrubbed floors at the local bank by night. Every Sunday, her family went to church, because no matter what the Bridges want their kids to grow up near God’s spirit from the very start. In 1960 though, school were still segregated in the South, which was against the law. So a judge orders Ruby and three other black girls to go to white schools. The other three girls went to one school, and Ruby went to first grade in the William Frantz Elementary all by herself. The Bridges were proud that their daughter had been chosen, and that Sunday prayed that they could get through this and that Ruby would be an example. And she was! From day one, too weeks, too months Ruby walked through an angry mob of people into the school escorted by marshals to sit in a school and classroom all alone. This never bothered Ruby though. Each day she was brave and walked through the mob to school and was eager to be taught, never was she scared. One day though, Ruby stopped. Right in the middle of the mob, and began what looked like to her teacher Mrs. Henry to be talking to the crowd. When Mrs. Henry asked Ruby what she had said, Ruby a little irritated said she didn’t talk to the mob. Twice a day, on her way to and from school Ruby would stop and pray for the people, and today she had forgotten until that moment when she was walking through the mob. So she was not talking to the mob, no she was talking to God. Her prayer was this:
"Please, God, try to forgive those people.
Because even if they say those bad things,
They don’t know what they’re doing.
So You could forgive them,
Just like You did those folks a long time ago
When they said those terrible things about You.”

Who would benefit from reading this?
This book is a great way to teach kids about the history of our country. More than that though, this book is a great reminder and an example to all of us what true faith and love for one another looks like.

Potential problems/conflicts:
If someone does not believe in God, then they might take offense to this book. Honestly though, it is history, and though you may not like it, it still happened.

My reaction:
I love the story of Ruby Bridges. One thing that I really liked about this version was that it wasn’t just the story; there were lots of quotes directly from the family and Ruby herself. It is hard to look at her walking through those crowds all alone, and sitting in that class all by herself, but this is what happened. This was not too long ago what the world looked like, and how people were. She really was quite the girl of faith, and I especially could learn a lesson from her.