The Story of Ruby Bridges
by Robert Coles [Scholastic Press, 1995]
Discussion Leader: Mrs. Karen Combs

The dad was replaced by a farm machine so he moved to the city and became a janitor. The mom scrubbed the floors of a bank at night after she had tucked her three kids into bed. Little did anyone know that one of those kids would someday be embroiled in one of the greatest controversies ever to move the heart of a nation.

Ruby Bridges was just six years old when in 1960 she stood before a judge who ordered her to go to first grade in the William Franz Elementary School. No black child had ever before stepped foot upon the hallowed white ground.

Every Sunday, her family went to church. Ruby's mother wanted all her children to start feeling close to God's Spirit from the very start. Now, the whole family was praying for strength and courage to get through any 'trouble' as a result of the desegregation ruling. Both her parents were proud that their little daughter had been chosen for such an important event in American history. So, they prayed that she would be a good girl and hold her head up high. They also prayed that Ruby would be a credit to her own people as well as a credit to all the American people.