A small treasure box of a book, a letter from Ruby Bridges "to the young peacemakers of America" — the school kids she has spent the last 25 years traveling the U.S. to speak with. Her message is simple but powerful, delivered with unflinching hope: *you* matter, love and grace can lead the way, now is your time.

Bridges, born in 1954, the same year that the Supreme Court ruled in "Brown vs. the Board of Education" that segregated education was unconstitutional, famously became the first Black student at an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960. She was 6-years-old and was escorted through daily threats and incredible ugliness by a guard of U.S. Marshals. Teachers refused to teach. Parents pulled their children out of school. Only one teacher, who was originally from Boston, was willing to teach Ruby, and did so all year in a classroom by themselves. Black-and-white photographs add context and poignancy to this brief account of her experiences then and since, illustrating both the profoundly disturbing and hopeful moments. Though not graphic, some of the content of the photos make this book best suited for ages 10+.

Content notes: racism, hatred, domestic abuse, death of a Black son to gun violence
Image notes: people protest integration with signs that imply that Black students are dirty, smiling white protesters carry a coffin with a Black baby doll in it, police use water cannons, pepper spray, and batons against groups and individuals