Mississippi Bridge

Mildred D. Taylor's "Mississippi Bridge" is a powerful historical fiction chapter book set in the segregated American South of the 1930s. Through the eyes of a ten-year-old white boy, Jeremy, readers witness a stark act of racial discrimination when Black passengers are ordered off a crowded bus during a torrential rainstorm to accommodate late-arriving white passengers. The story intensifies as the bus, now carrying only white passengers, attempts to cross a dangerously flooded river. This book is an excellent resource for discussing historical injustice, empathy, and the impact of prejudice with children aged 8-11, or as a read-aloud for younger listeners.