Ruby Lee and Me

About this book

Young people coming to terms with prejudice and its effect on the world around them.

Everything’s changing for Sarah Beth Willis. Days on the farm aren’t the same, and the simple fun of riding a bike or playing outside can be scary. And there’s talk in town about the new sixth grade teacher at Shady Creek. Word is spreading quickly — Mrs. Smyre is like no other teacher anyone has ever seen around these parts. She’s the first African American teacher. It’s 1969, and while black folks and white folks are cordial, having a black teacher at an all-white school is a strange new happening. For Sarah Beth, there are so many unanswered questions. What is all this talk about Freedom Riders and school integration? Why can’t she and Ruby become best friends? And who says school isn’t for anybody who wants to learn — or teach?

In a world filled with uncertainty, one very special teacher shows her young students and the adults in their lives that change invites unexpected possibilities.

Reviews

Praise for Ruby Lee and Me:

"With the poetry of plain speaking, Shannon Hitchcock recreates the daily drama of a vanished world."--Richard Peck, Newbery Award-winning author of A Year Down Yonder

"Hitchcock deftly weaves her narrative through history to gently bring important past events to light. Excellently written, the novel's characters avoid stereotyping and are well-developed, and Hitchcock perfectly captures Sarah Beth's voice as she wrestles with big questions. The somber themes of race relations and personal guilt are handled sensitively and with a good dose of flour, courtesy of Sarah Beth's grandmother, and hope for racial healing is offered. A heartening and important offering for younger readers." --Booklist, starred review

"[A story] about sibling love and self-forgiveness." --Kirkus Reviews

"Sarah's inner struggles take place against the background of integration in a rural North Carolina community; Hitchcock . . . depicts her guilt, anger, and grief with credibility and the important people in her life in sympathetic, fully dimensional fashion." --Publishers Weekly