My Mother the Cheerleader

<p><strong>Share this harrowing and painfully honest historical novel<em>*</em> at home or in the classroom. Through this extraordinary debut effort from the Sydney Taylor Award winner Robert Sharenow readers will explore how ingrained prejudices--whether acted upon or not--help destroy lives and shatter a community.<em>**</em></strong></p><p>In 1960 New Orleans thirteen-year-old Louise is pulled out of class by her mother to protest court-ordered integration of her school. Louise's mother is one of the jeering Cheerleaders. Each morning the Cheerleaders gather at the school to harass the school's first black student six-year-old Ruby Bridges as she enters the building.</p><p>After a mysterious man from New York named Morgan arrives in town and takes up residence in the family's crumbling boarding house Louise's acceptance of the way things are begins to crumble.</p><p>Through conversations with Morgan and firsthand observations Louise begins to wonder about the morality of the Cheerleaders' activities--and everything Louise thinks she knows about her mother her world and herself will change.</p><p>In a starred review <em>Booklist </em>commented: Readers will be held fast by the history told from the inside as adult Louise remembers the vicious role of ordinary people.</p><p><em>*School Library Journal (starred review); **Chicago Tribune</em></p>