Through My Eyes

Through My Eyes	Scholastic, Inc
Written by Ruby Bridges	2000
Autobiography	63 pages
Reading Level age 8-12	Jane Adams Award

Summary

At age six, Ruby went to school. She was a black student who passed the test to be integrated into an all white school. Many of the white parents were furious and threatened to kill Ruby each morning as she walked past them to the school. The president issued US Marshals to protect her and keep the crowd from getting too close. Mrs. Henry was Ruby’s teacher and the two of them worked side by side in the empty classroom. Ruby was sacred that one of the women poisoned her and stopped eating anything that wasn’t prewrapped. Mrs. Henry found out and started taking her lunch with Ruby instead of in the teacher lounge. Her father lost his job and the local grocery store asked them not to shop there. Some white parents walked their children to school, but stopped when the crowd started accusing them and threatening. John Steinbeck wrote about Ruby and the scene he saw in his book, Travels with Charley. Norman Rockwell read that excerpt and painted a picture of Ruby from the description of Steinbeck’s. Things calmed down some after Christmas and several other families sent their children back to school. They were tired of their children being unruly and missing out on their education. The next year, when Ruby started second grade, there were no Marshals, or angry crowd. Ruby was able to attend school with other children and finally have friends.

Reaction

I loved this book. The way Ruby told it was amazing. She recollected all the things that she didn’t understand until she was older and talked about the strain it took on her family. The pictures are actual photographs of that time. There were paragraphs from the news articles and descriptions from eye witnesses that told of the horrible things the mob shouted at Ruby day after day. It is a powerful book.

Potential Problems

There are some violent things that were yelled each morning and threats against Ruby’s life. It shows her perspective of that time and how she was able with help to continue going to school each day.

Recommendations

I would recommend this book to a much older audience. This would be a good book to introduce the Civil Rights movement and the surge towards being equal in our country.