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Through my eyes
Bridges, Ruby. 1999. Through my eyes.
New York: Scholastic Press. ISBN: 0590189239.
In her own words, Ruby Bridges recounts the year that she became a
national symbol by being one of the first black children to integrate
the New Orleans public schools. Violent protestors, a defiant school
system, and dogged media coverage surrounded the entire event, and
Bridges was just a first grade child, mostly unaware of the reason for
the chaos. For the first time, Bridges tells the story of the saga from
her own perspective.
Bridges's voice comes through the text as she lays out her story in
simple text that neither overly glamorizes nor glosses over reality.
The text is well organized into chronological bits that flow well into
each other. Each new section is announced to the reader with a subject
heading such as "The First Day at William Franz." (Bridges, p.18)
Bridges begins the text with a preface that gives readers an overview
of the political and social climate during this time. She then starts
her own story by telling of her birth, and the story continues all
the way up until her life at the present. Bridges weaves historical
details and personal reflections and emotions seamlessly, and they
combine to create a powerful version of this famous story that has not
been told until now. As Carter states in her review in Horn Book Magazine, "Norman
Rockwell painted her, John Steinbeck wrote about her, and Robert Coles
worked with her. But Bridges needs no intermediaries to cloud the lens
of her story; she relates it far more powerfully than anyone else to
date. After establishing a historical context, Bridges lets her
childhood memories rather than her adult perceptions, drive the
narrative: 'That whole first day, my mother and I just sat and waited.
We didn't talk to anybody. I remember watching a big, round clock on
the wall. When it was 3:00 and time to go home, I was glad. I had
thought my new school would be hard, but the first day was easy.'
(Bridges, p.18) In contrast to Coles's message-laden biography (The
Story of Ruby Bridges, 1994), where Ruby moves from child to sain in a
mere thrity-two pages, here she emerges as an understandable and
sympathetic young girl."
This sixty-four page book combines chunks of text by Bridges with
pictures from the times and interviews and articles compiled and edited
by Margo Lundell. Bridges's text is the predominant feature of this
powerful book. The pictures include the well-documented event of
Bridges's integration of William Franz Elementary and also other
relevant pictures such as the "Little Rock Nine" (Bridges, p.5) and
Rockwell's portrait of Bridges. (Bridges, p.25) Portraits of
several people are also included, such as John Steinbeck, Evelyn
Roosevelt, and Bridges's teacher, Mrs. Henry. (Bridges, p.25, p.37, and
p.41) The pictures differ in size, but often take up almost half of
each double page spread, although some are smaller. Each photo is
explained by a caption. The articles and interview compiled by Lundell
are included at the bottoms of the pages, and each is set apart by
being placed on a tan background. The text and headings are typed in a
serif font, and the lines of text have ample space between them. The
book includes a concluding section that is titled "Let Me Bring You Up
to Date" (Bridges, p.56), and this tells of Ruby's current project of
helping inner-city schools and provides an address for further
information. Photo credits are included on pages 63 and 64. There are
no further access features, such as a bibliography, index, glossary, or
list for further reading.
Green calls this book a "superb read-aloud," and it will be a valuable
addition to any collection. It tells this oft recounted story from Bridges's unique perspective, and it will only enhance
any unit of
study on relevant topics such as civil rights or Black History Month.
Carter, Betty. 2000. Book reviews: Nonfiction. Horn Book Magazine 76(1). In
EBSCOHost (database online). Available
from http://search.epnet.com/login.asp. Accessed 28 March 2005.
Coles, Robert. 1995. The story of
Ruby Bridges. Ill. by George Ford. New York: Scholastic Press.
ISBN: 0590572814.
Green, Dawn G. 2000. Reviews: Biography. Book Report 18(5). In
EBSCOHost (database online). Available
from http://search.epnet.com/login.asp. Accessed 28 March 2005.
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