Belle Teal (19 page)

In November of 1960, Ruby Bridges, a six-year-old girl, entered William Frantz elementary school in New Orleans, Louisiana. She became one of the first African-American children to attend a formerly all-white public school in the Deep South. For months, Ruby had to be escorted by federal marshals through an angry mob on her way to school. White parents wouldn't allow their children to go to school with Ruby and pulled them out of school. She was the only child in her first grade class, and was the only student in the whole school for most of the year. Ruby's teacher, Mrs. Henry, greeted her every morning with a hug. They spent the entire day together in her classroom learning, eating, and playing games at recess. By the next September, the federal marshals and the protestors were gone. Ruby's school was fully integrated with both African-American and white children.

Desegregation wasn't limited to students attending elementary or high school. It was occurring in colleges, too. James Meredith risked his life in 1962 to become the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi. Because so many people were upset by the university's decision to admit Meredith, Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent federal marshals to protect him. When a riot broke out at the school, two innocent bystanders were killed, and 160 marshals were injured. Undeterred, Meredith continued to study at the University of Mississippi and graduated in 1964.

The integration of public schools was just one aspect of the civil rights movement that occurred during the 1950s and 1960s. The March on Washington in August of 1963 was one of the largest peaceful demonstrations in the history of the United States. Over 250,000 people showed up in Washington, DC, to support civil rights. Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, which included a wish that his children “will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” Finally, in 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act. This act made racial discrimination, or segregation, in public places illegal. It also required employers to offer equal opportunities in the workplace.

African Americans struggled and fought for many years to receive the same rights and opportunities as white people. The desegregation of public schools was an enormous victory in the civil rights movement, and an important step in the right direction towards equality.

Related Reading from Scholastic:

A Dream of Freedom
by Diane McWhorter

I Have a Dream: The Story of Martin Luther King
by Margaret Davidson

Malcolm X: By Any Means Necessary
by Walter Dean Myers

Promises to Keep: How Jackie Robinson Changed America 
by Sharon Robinson

Rosa Parks: From the Back of the Bus to the Front of a 
Movement
by Camilla Wilson

Separate But Not Equal: The Dream and the Struggle
by Jim Haskins

Through My Eyes
by Ruby Bridges

The Journal of Biddy Owens: The Negro Leagues, 
Birmingham, Alabama, 1948
by Walter Dean Myers

Making Homemade Chocolate Chip Cookies

Darryl's mom makes delicious chocolate chip cookies, which he shares with Belle the first time they eat lunch together. Later, he brings them in for the Christmas feast at school. Did you know that chocolate chip cookies were invented by a woman named Ruth Wakefield back in the 1930s? They are just as popular today. Here is a basic recipe that you can make and share with family and friends. Be sure to have an adult assist you.

Ingredients:

2
¹
⁄
₄
cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks or
¹
⁄
₂
pound) butter, softened

³
⁄
₄
cup granulated sugar

³
⁄
₄
cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

2 cups (12-ounce package) milk and/or dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.

2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

3. Beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.

4. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each one has been added.

5. Gradually beat in flour mixture.

6. Stir in chocolate chips.

7. Drop by rounded spoonfuls, 1–2 inches apart, on to ungreased baking sheets.

8. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until golden brown. 

9. Let stand for a few minutes, then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

How to Play Four Square

This is a fun game played at Belle's school during recess, and it can be played indoors or outdoors. The object of Four Square is to be the player who remains in square 1 the longest. You'll need: a ball; chalk, paint, or tape to make a Four Square court; and a minimum of four people to play.

Directions:

1. On a hard surface, use chalk, paint, or tape to make a square approximately 8' x 8' with 4 equal size squares inside. 

2. The squares should be numbered: 1 in the upper left, 2 in the upper right, 3 in the lower right, and 4 in the lower left.

3. The first 4 players begin with each standing inside one of the 4 squares.

4. The player in square 1 serves the ball by bouncing it into any of the other 3 squares.

5. That player returns the ball back by bouncing it to any square.

6. Play proceeds like this until a player allows a ball to bounce twice in his or her square, hits the ball out of the court, hits a line, spikes the ball, or is unable to successfully return the ball to another square. If this occurs, that player rotates out of the game, either by going to the end of the line or to square 4 if there are only 4 players.

7. The other players in the game rotate up to the empty space. (Player on square 4 moves to 3, 3 to 2, and 2 to 1.) If there are more than 4 players, the first waiting player enters at square 4.

8. The player in square 1 serves each round. Whoever stays in square 1 the longest, wins.

Your Own Journal

Belle enjoys writing in her journal. She uses it to record memories (both happy and sad) and to help her think things through, especially when she feels like she can't talk to her mom or her grandmother. Sometimes, writing down how we feel can actually make us feel a lot better. Here are some suggestions for creating your own journal. (You could even invite friends over to have a journal decorating party.)

Directions:

1. Start with a new notebook of your choice, or make your own notebook by binding pieces of paper together with staples. You could also punch holes through the paper and tie the pages together with yarn, string, or ribbon.

2. Be creative and decorate the outside using anything you can think of. Especially use things you might already have: gift wrap (new or used), fabric, leftover wallpaper (from your house or from the house of someone you care about), magazine or newspaper clippings, construction paper, crayons, colored pencils, paint, markers, glitter, stickers, buttons, feathers, or beads.

3. Add personal touches. These could be ribbon from a special occasion, photographs, or scraps from an old blanket or favorite childhood outfit. You could even include original artwork!

4. Find a special place to put your name.

Start writing!

1. Have you heard the old joke about the New York City tourist who asks a taxi driver “How do you get to Carnegie Hall?” The taxi driver answers, “Practice, practice, practice.” Well, the same thing applies to writing. It's something you need to do a lot in order to get better. Don't worry about how much you write or how good you think it is. Just try to write something every day. Something you jotted down once may give you inspiration for a future story.

2. Read, read, and read some more. I wrote it three times because it's really important! Reading is one of the best ways to become a better writer. When you read a book you enjoy, you see how an author tells a story in a way that interests you. Even a book you don't enjoy teaches you what you want to avoid in your own writing. Use your own voice and style of writing.

3. Enjoy it! Write about something that interests you. If you love stories about animals, go for it. Maybe you like science fiction or scary stories. If you're excited about your subject, your enthusiasm will probably come through. But don't shut yourself off from other types of writing. Who knows? If you sign up to work on the school paper, you may be surprised to learn that you have a knack for writing an opinion column!

4. Get comfortable. I need to write in a quiet room, but you may want to go outside with a notebook or sit in your room with headphones on. Think about setting up a routine. I write every day and I do all of my writing in the morning. There have been times when I didn't much feel like writing, but I've done it anyway and have been pleasantly surprised with my work.

5. Think about how you want to get started. In the 
Peanuts
cartoon, Snoopy always begins his novels with, “It was a dark and stormy night . . .” Check out how your favorite authors have caught your attention on the first page of their stories. You are the best judge of what captures your interest and makes you want to continue reading.

6. Keep at it. Plug away. Don't quit. (Do you get the general idea here?) If you don't finish it, no one else will . . . and then we'll never know how it ended!

7. Make any changes you want. It's your story. Experiment a little until you like what you see. And if you like to write your stories on a computer, editing is easier than ever. The image of a writer staring at a typewriter with balls of crumpled paper all over the floor is pretty outdated, now that we can cut and paste with the click of a mouse!

8. Don't be afraid of occasional “writer's block.” (This is when you can't seem to write anything.) It happens to all of us. Set your work aside for a little while and do something different. Eat an apple, call a friend, or kick a soccer ball around. Chances are you'll look at your story with fresh eyes when you return to it.

9. Ask for advice. Don't be shy about getting some tips from a teacher, parent, or other adult who is interested in writing and willing to read your stories. Maybe you and some friends can start a writers' group so you can share and discuss your work with each other.

10. Find out if your school offers a creative writing course and sign up. You can have a lot of fun in a class that's all about writing. Be sure to save your work. I guarantee that you'll enjoy reading it again when you are a little older!

 

Copyright © 2001 by Ann M. Martin.

All rights reserved. Published by Scholastic Inc. SCHOLASTIC, APPLE PAPERBACKS, and associated logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Scholastic Inc.

First Scholastic paperback printing, September 2002

Cover photo by David Zaitz/Photonica
Cover design by Sarita Kusuma

e-ISBN 978-0-545-53233-4

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher. For information regarding permission, write to Scholastic Inc., Attention: Permissions Department, 557 Broadway, New York, NY 10012.