She Persisted: Ruby Bridges

ISBN-13: 9780593115862

Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group

Publication Date: 08-24-2021

Pages: 80

Product Dimensions: 5.63(w) x 7.94(h) x 0.46(d)

Age Range: 6 - 9 Years

Series: She Persisted Series

Kekla Magoon (keklamagoon.com) writes novels and nonfiction for young readers, including The Highest Tribute: Thurgood Marshall's Life, Leadership, and Legacy, Today the World Is Watching You: The Little Rock Nine and the Fight for School Integration 1957-58, The Season of Styx Malone, and The Rock and the River. She has received the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, an NAACP Image Award, the John Steptoe New Talent Award, three Coretta Scott King Honors, and been long listed for the National Book Award. Kekla conducts school and library visits nationwide. She holds a B.A. from Northwestern University and an M.F.A. in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts, where she now serves on faculty. You can follow Kekla Magoon on Twitter @keklamagoon. Chelsea Clinton is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller She Persisted: 13 American Women Who Changed the World; She Persisted Around the World: 13 Women Who Changed History; She Persisted in Sports: American Olympians Who Changed the Game; Don't Let Them Disappear: 12 Endangered Species Across the Globe; It's Your World: Get Informed, Get Inspired & Get Going!; Start Now!: You Can Make a Difference; with Hillary Clinton, Grandma's Gardens and Gutsy Women; and, with Devi Sridhar, Governing Global Health: Who Runs the World and Why? She is also the Vice Chair of the Clinton Foundation, where she works on many initiatives, including those that help empower the next generation of leaders. She lives in New York City with her husband, Marc, their children and their dog, Soren. You can follow Chelsea Clinton on Twitter @ChelseaClinton or on Facebook at facebook.com/chelseaclinton. Gillian Flint (gillianflint.com) is an illustrator who has a passion for painting in watercolors. She has been drawing and creating characters for as long as she can remember. Her work has been published in the USA, the UK and Australia. In her spare time she enjoys reading and gardening at her home in the UK. You can follow her on Instagram @gillianflint_illustration. Alexandra Boiger (alexandraboiger.com) has illustrated nearly twenty picture books, including the She Persisted series by by Chelsea Clinton; the popular Tallulah series by Marilyn Singer; and the Max and Marla books, which she also wrote. Originally from Munich, Germany, she now lives outside of San Francisco, California, with her husband, Andrea; daughter, Vanessa; and two cats, Luiso and Winter. You can follow Alexandra on Instagram @alexandra_boiger.

Dear Reader,

As Sally Ride and Marian Wright Edelman both powerfully said, “You can’t be what you can’t see.” When Sally Ride said that, she meant that it was hard to dream of being an astronaut, like she was, or a doctor or an athlete or anything at all if you didn’t see someone like you who already had lived that dream. She especially was talking about seeing women in jobs that historically were held by men. 

I wrote the first She Persisted and the books that came after it because I wanted young girls—and children of all genders—to see women who worked hard to live their dreams. And I wanted all of us to see examples of persistence in the face of different challenges to help inspire us in our own lives. 

I’m so thrilled now to partner with a sisterhood of writers to bring longer, more in-depth versions of these stories of women’s persistence and achievement to readers. I hope you enjoy these chapter books as much as I do and find them inspiring and empowering. 

And remember: If anyone ever tells you no, if anyone ever says your voice isn’t important or your dreams are too big, remember these women. They persisted and so should you.

Warmly,
Chelsea Clinton


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1: From the Family Farm to the Big City
Chapter 2: An Important Test
Chapter 3: The First Day of School
Chapter 4: A Classroom for One
Chapter 5: Following Ruby's Lead
Chapter 6: The Power of Children
How You Can Persist
References


Chapter 1
From the Family Farm to the Big City

When Ruby Bridges was born in 1954, her parents brought her home, full of hope that their daughter would grow up in a better world than they had. Little did they know how big a role Ruby herself would play in building that better world.