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Ruby's Wish
CCBC Review:
Young Ruby loves the color red, and she loves to learn. Living in China at a time when few girls were taught to read or write, Ruby eagerly studies with the tutors her grandfather has hired for any child in his house who wants to learn. Ruby excels, and her grandfather takes great pleasure in her success. So he's saddened and puzzled when he reads a poem Ruby has written lamenting her fate as a girl in a house "where only boys are cared for." Ruby's dream is to attend university-an option open to her boy cousins, but not to girls in China. Shirin Yin Bridges based this charming and ultimately uplifting story on the life of her grandmother, who, like the fictional Ruby, was accepted as one of the first female students at a university in China. Sophie Blackwell's elegant gouache illustrations are a perfect accompaniment to Bridge's narrative. ©2002 Cooperative Children's Book Center
Illustrated by Sophie Blackall
CCBC Age Recommendation: Ages 6-9
Age Range:
PreK-Early Elementary (Ages 4-7)
Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-10)
Format:
Picture book
Subjects:
Chinese and Chinese Americans
Education
Girls and Women
Grandfathers
Historical Fiction
Reading and Writing
School
Sexism
Diversity subject:
Asian
Publisher:
Chronicle
Publish Year: 2002
Pages: 32
ISBN: 0811834905
CCBC Location: Picture Book, Shirin