Through My Eyes: Ruby Bridges

Gr 4-7–In 1960, six-year-old Ruby Bridges was the only Black child to integrate William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana. She spent the entire school year as the lone student in her first grade classroom, as the majority of other students in the school stopped coming as soon as she arrived. This is Bridges’s story about that year, in her own words, and the impact it had on her life. Interspersed are newspaper article quotes from the time and quotes from the people surrounding her. The text is narrated by Bridges, while the quotes are voiced by Ron Butler and Robin Miles, and original music is used to connect each section. A note at the beginning discusses how the 1999 text is presented in its entirety including the harmful language that Bridges heard. Included at the end is a 2020 interview with her on the Scholastics Reads podcast, catching listeners up with what she is doing now.