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Through My Eyes Hardcover – September 1, 1999

by Ruby Bridges (Author), Margo Lundell (Compiler, Editor)

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In November 1960, all of America watched as a tiny six-year-old black girl, surrounded by federal marshals, walked through a mob of screaming segregationists and into her school. An icon of the civil rights movement, Ruby Bridges chronicles each dramatic step of this pivotal event in history through her own words.

Reading age

9 - 12 years
Print length

63 pages
Language

English
Grade level

4 - 7
Lexile measure

860L
Dimensions

9.4 x 0.43 x 10.82 inches
Publisher

Scholastic Press
Publication date

September 1, 1999
ISBN-10

0590189239
ISBN-13

978-0590189231
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Surrounded by federal marshals, 6-year-old Ruby Bridges became the first black student ever at the all-white William Frantz Public School in New Orleans, Louisiana, on November 14, 1960. Perhaps never had so much hatred been directed at so perfect a symbol of innocence--which makes it all the more remarkable that her memoir, simple in language and rich in history and sepia-toned photographs, is informed mainly by a sort of bewildered compassion. Throughout, readers will find quotes from newspapers of the time, family members, and teachers; sidebars illustrating how Ruby Bridges pops up in both John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley and a Norman Rockwell painting; and a fascinating update on Bridges's life and civil rights work. A personal, deeply moving historical documentary about a staggeringly courageous little girl at the center of events that already seem unbelievable. (Ages 6 and older) --Richard Farr

From Publishers Weekly

With Robert Coles's 1995 picture book, The Story of Ruby Bridges, and a Disney television movie, readers may feel they already know all about Bridges, who in 1960 was the first black child to attend a New Orleans public elementary school. But the account she gives here is freshly riveting. With heartbreaking understatement, she gives voice to her six-year-old self. Escorted on her first day by U.S. marshals, young Ruby was met by throngs of virulent protesters ("I thought maybe it was Mardi Gras... Mardi Gras was always noisy," she remembers). Her prose stays unnervingly true to the perspective of a child: "The policeman at the door and the crowd behind us made me think this was an important place. It must be college, I thought to myself." Inside, conditions were just as strange, if not as threatening. Ruby was kept in her own classroom, receiving one-on-one instruction from teacher Barbara Henry, a recent transplant from Boston. Sidebars containing statements from Henry and Bridges's mother, or excerpts from newspaper accounts and John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley, provide information and perspectives unavailable to Bridges as a child. As the year went on, Henry accidentally discovered the presence of other first graders, and she had to force the principal to send them into her classroom for part of the day (the principal refused to make the other white teachers educate a black child). Ironically, it was only when one of these children refused to play with Ruby ("My mama said not to because you're a nigger") that Ruby realized that "everything had happened because I was black.... It was all about the color of my skin." Sepia-toned period photographs join the sidebars in rounding out Bridges's account. But Bridges's words, recalling a child's innocence and trust, are more vivid than even the best of the photos. Like poetry or prayer, they melt the heart. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 4 Up-At age six, Ruby Bridges became the first African American student to attend an all-white school in New Orleans. In addition to her childhood memories, she shares her adult perceptions of the role she played in the Civil Rights Movement. Compelling sepia-toned photographs enhance this personal narrative.α(c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Library Journal

Grade 4-7-Profusely illustrated with sepia photos-including many gritty journalistic reproductions-this memoir brings some of the raw emotions of a tumultuous period into sharp focus. In her recounting of the events of 1960-61, the year she became the first African-American child to integrate the William Frantz Elementary School in New Orleans, Bridges is true to her childhood memories. She is clear about what she remembers and what she later learned. Her account is accompanied by excerpts from newspaper articles, comments by her teacher, and a time line that fill in the details and place her story within the context of the Civil Rights Movement. The narrative draws a distinct contrast between the innocence of this six-year-old child who thought that "Two, four, six, eight, we don't want to integrate" was a jump-rope chant and the jeers of the angry crowd outside her school carrying a black doll in a coffin. A powerful personal narrative that every collection will want to own.
Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

USA TODAYThursday, March 23, 2000LIFEThe best in the eyes of young readersby: Bob MinzesheimerNorman Rockwell painted her when she was 6, surrounded by four federal marshals, marching to a New Orleans elementary school in the cause of integration. Nearly 40 years later, Ruby Bridges turned her memories of that experience into a book for children. Today, Through My Eyes (Scholastic, $16.95) wins an award as 1999's best non-fiction children's book that "advances humanitarian ideals and serves as an inspiration to young readers." It's recommended for readers ages 7 to 12.It's one of three awards from the Bank Street College of Education in New York. Each year, Bank Street organizes a children's book committee - half adults, half kids. They review 4,000 books and recommend 600 for various age groups. 'The work is shared by 28 librarians, teachers, authors and parents and 28 "young reviewers" (ages 7 to 15) from across the country who have in common a passion for books. Today, the committee issues the new edition of The Best Children's Books of the Year, which costs $8, and awards two others prizes:- For a book "in which young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties" and "grow emotionally and moraly"- Gina Willner- Pardo for Figuring Out Frances (Houghton Mifflin, $14). It's about a 10-year-old girl who's trying to figure out boys, her mother and a grand- mother who has Alzheimer's. For readers 8 to 12.- For the best poetry book - to Sonya Sones for Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (HarperCollins, $14.95). It's about dealing with an older sister's mental breakdown. For readers 12 to 14.For more information, call 212-8754540 or see www.bankstreet.edu/bookcom.

USA TODAYThursday, March 23, 2000LIFEThe best in the eyes of young readersby: Bob MinzesheimerNorman Rockwell painted her when she was 6, surrounded by four federal marshals, marching to a New Orleans elementary school in the cause of integration. Nearly 40 years later, Ruby Bridges turned her memories of that experience into a book for children. Today, Through My Eyes (Scholastic, $16.95) wins an award as 1999's best non-fiction children's book that "advances humanitarian ideals and serves as an inspiration to young readers." It's recommended for readers ages 7 to 12.It's one of three awards from the Bank Street College of Education in New York. Each year, Bank Street organizes a children's book committee - half adults, half kids. They review 4,000 books and recommend 600 for various age groups. 'The work is shared by 28 librarians, teachers, authors and parents and 28 "young reviewers" (ages 7 to 15) from across the country who have in common a passion for books. Today, the committee issues the new edition of The Best Children's Books of the Year, which costs $8, and awards two others prizes:- For a book "in which young people deal in a positive and realistic way with difficulties" and "grow emotionally and moraly"- Gina Willner- Pardo for Figuring Out Frances (Houghton Mifflin, $14). It's about a 10-year-old girl who's trying to figure out boys, her mother and a grand- mother who has Alzheimer's. For readers 8 to 12.- For the best poetry book - to Sonya Sones for Stop Pretending: What Happened When My Big Sister Went Crazy (HarperCollins, $14.95). It's about dealing with an older sister's mental breakdown. For readers 12 to 14.For more information, call 212-8754540 or see www.bankstreet.edu/bookcom.

About the Author

Ruby Bridges became a pioneer in school integration at the age of six, when she was chosen to spend her first-grade year in what had formerly been an all-white elementary school. Ruby Bridges now works as a lecturer, telling her story to adults and children alike. She lives with her husband and sons in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Scholastic Press; 1st edition (September 1, 1999)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 63 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0590189239
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0590189231
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 9 - 12 years
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 860L
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 4 - 7
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.21 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.4 x 0.43 x 10.82 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #20,183 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #37 in Children's American History of 1900s
- #48 in Children's Historical Biographies (Books)
- #85 in Children's Multicultural Biographies

Customer Reviews:
714 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		90%
4 star		5%
3 star		3%
2 star		1%
1 star		1%

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Top reviews from the United States

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April Lewandowski

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2021

Verified Purchase

I am glad Ruby Bridges wrote this. But I believe the publisher did a huge disservice by coloring every photo sepia. I know for a fact that some of these images were in color and by making them look vintage, it portrays to young readers that this was long ago when in reality, it is very recent history. Colored photos would have made the images more relevant and current for young readers.
Again, however, I would like to thank Ruby Bridges for sharing her story with the world.

10 people found this helpful

I always wondered how this tiny, beautiful girl felt that day.

Reviewed in the United States on January 24, 2018

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We've all seen the picture, the teeny, tiny girl flanked by giant white men. This little girl's photograph haunted me as a white child in the early 60s. I always wondered how she must have felt, and hoped the adults surrounding her were kind, and good with children! I enjoyed reading behind the scenes, the true story--through little Ruby's eyes!

19 people found this helpful

Beauty of a wonderful girl and her mother against the Beast.

Reviewed in the United States on June 1, 2021

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This beautiful story is of a wonderful little girl and her heroine of a mother against the beastly white racial ignorance, fear, hatred, and stupidity. As a white man, I am grateful that there are white as well as black heroes and heroines in this book, but the beauty of a little girl's simplicity, and her mother's courage, and her father's reluctant but also brave support--needs to be a story every little girl and every little boy needs to hear as they are becoming who they will be. I want my children and grandchildren to know Ruby and her mother, and determine they will never treat anyone mean and cruel again.

2 people found this helpful

A powerful story. It is a little longer than ...

Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2017

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A powerful story. It is a little longer than some other books and a little more challenging for my 6 yr old granddaughter to read on her own. But we read it over a couple of days. We also did not read it at bedtime since some of the things that happen to Ruby are upsetting. We read it in afternoon so we could have time to talk about it and process the information. The last chapter, the story of the grownup Ruby, was uplifting.

23 people found this helpful

What kind of a savage threatens to poison a little girl?

Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2012

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This is one of the most powerful indictments of segregation I've ever read. The perspective of a little girl (now grown up, of course) who endured a brutal year of merciless isolation, taunting and threats just to get an education would be powerful enough. But Bridges' telling of her own story is almost the least powerful element of the book in some ways. After all, even under the best of circumstances, how many of us can remember events from when we were six? And Bridges' telling also shows some signs of possible repression and dissociation due to the traumatic nature of her experiences. But still, the other voices and especially the pictures in the book augment and amplify Bridges' own voice creating a resounding cry for decency and justice.

Bridges mingles her personal story with the story of Civil Rights in general. She was born in the same year as the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. The Board of Education, but even by the time she reached six years old, less than two percent of southern schools had been integrated. Ruby, up to that point, had had a loving and stable childhood, spending summers with her sharecropping grandparents and looking after her younger siblings. That love and responsibility, as well as the unquestioning obedience that had been drilled into her, probably account for a large part of the reason Bridges was able to survive her ordeal as well as she did.

Bridges, supplemented by excerpts from her mother, her teacher, the New York Times, and other newspapers, and author John Steinbeck, then tells of that brutal first year in which she was the only black child at William Frantz Public School. She was escorted by U.S. Marshalls every day for most of the year. Most of the other parents pulled their children out of school after she showed up. Crowds of protestors gathered around the school each day shouting things too obscene to be printed in the newspaper, holding up illiterate signs, and threatening death in various forms. Much of the crowd was made up of "housewives" - women who presumably had children of their own.

A small handful of white children did continue to attend the school. They too were met with protesters who threw rocks and eggs at them. Some parents were forced to give up sending their children to that school. In any case, little Ruby didn't even known they were there for most of the year because the prejudiced principal would not allow them in the same class. And so tiny Ruby learned all by herself with only her heroic teacher, Barbara Henry, for company.

Eventually things did get better. Child psychologist Robert Coles began meeting with Ruby to give her an outlet for her experiences. Teacher Barbara Henry was able to prevail and have the other white children come to her class part of each day. Gradually the protests died down and the Marshalls went away. By the time Ruby started second grade she arrived to find the white children back in school and even several other black children. But no more Barbara Henry who had essentially been driven back north, a persona non grata. Bridges concludes by bringing us up to date on her largely successful and happy life since those infamous days. She basically has no regrets for being the one to pave the way for other black children, but at the same time there is a hint of mourning for a lost childhood.

Possibly even more than the voices in the story, the pictures provide the power of the story. There's the pictures of tiny little Ruby in her fresh white dress and the bow in her hair being led by her mother and the Marshalls. On the other hand, there are the pictures of the protesters - hoards of teenage boys laughing like it's a carnival, a grown man holding a black doll in a casket, people throwing rocks and eggs at white children who continued to attend the school, a woman threatening to strangle the Methodist minister who continued to bring his daughter to school, the cute little white girl holding up a cross, another cross burning while white-hooded men look on. Pictures to be proud of for sure. I wonder what those participants think of now when they look back on those pictures? What do their children think?

But amidst the ugly and horrifying pictures there are some beautiful and heartening ones too. There are photos of Civil Rights marches with black faces mingled with white faces. There's the picture of Ruby with her teacher, and a picture of a smiling Eleanor Roosevelt who sent an encouraging letter to the Bridges family. But the most heartening photos are the two showing a smiling Ruby with her white classmates after she was finally allowed to meet them, and therein lies the seed of hope for the generation to come.

The South, we are told, was and is not racist. The Civil War was fought over "states' rights". The struggles surrounding Jim Crow laws, lynching and segregation were about preserving the "Southern Way of Life". Read this book and think about that phrase a moment. Is a "way of life" that involves threatening a six-year-old girl because of the color of her skin a "way of life" worth fighting for?

46 people found this helpful

Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2018

Verified Purchase

Love this book. Beautiful book, with Ruby Bridges story told from a child's perspective. Includes portions with far more detail than a picture book, but also has shorter passages perfect for reading by younger ages. The combination is great for providing just right information, and leading to asking more questions, and searching out more answers. Includes many, many photographs that help illustrate so well what school was like for Ruby in those early years.

5 people found this helpful

She said it made her understand things much better!

Reviewed in the United States on January 29, 2018

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I bought this for my granddaughter to let her see the true happenings that took place when I was young. I read it and so did my granddaughter-in-law who is Asian .and a college graduate. She said it made her understand things much better!

6 people found this helpful

Read with your kids!

Reviewed in the United States on March 21, 2018

Verified Purchase

Daughter and I loved the story and images. As a history teacher, there is so much rich history within this story. Highly recommend

7 people found this helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Sinead

Really good book. Such an important story and great to ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 18, 2018

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Really good book. Such an important story and great to hear it from Ruby Bridges' perspective. I read it with my 10 year old son and he talked about it loads afterwards.

2 people found this helpful

Angela Lamb

Everyone should read this book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 3, 2017

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A shocking but courageous book about history that seems unreal now. Everyone should read this!

One person found this helpful

MacAllan

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2015

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everyone should read it. A sign of our times

5 people found this helpful

peter k

A LESSON IN LOVE AND HATE

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 9, 2014

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If you only need one story to explain the civil rights movement in the us , this is the one

6 people found this helpful

Fiona Morrison

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 5, 2015

Verified Purchase

As expected

One person found this helpful

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