Biography:
Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The Case of R.B.G. vs. Inequality
Winter, J., & Innerst, S. (2018). Ruth Bader Ginsburg: The case of R.B.G. vs. inequality. Abrams Books for Young Readers.
Plot Summary:
This book tells the life of Ruth Bater Ginsburg and how she became the second woman on the supreme court and fought for women's rights up until the day she died. The book starts by introducing Ruth's birth on March 15, 1933, to her two Jewish parents in Brooklyn, New York. Ruth was very intelligent, inspired by her mother who if was treated as equal as a man, might've made a difference in the world as Ruth did, but nonetheless, Ruth graduated highschool 6th in her class the day her mother died, heading off to Cornell University the next fall. She was one of the very few girls in her class and here she met her future husband, Martin Ginsburg, and where she also decided she would want to become a lawyer after learning about how people's civil rights were being taken from them. She then started at Harvard law school being one of the 9 women in her class, where she would not only be a student but a mother to her newborn daughter as well as caring for her sick husband and his education. Ruth then transferred to Columbia University where she graduated first in her class, but because she was a woman, Jewish, and a mother, she didn't fit the standard of a lawyer, so she started as a law clerk, then a law professor, then in the 1970s, she was in charge of all woman court cases for the ACLU, fighting for woman rights. She then served on the court of appeals and then at the age of 60, she would become the second female to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court where she gave every American woman civil rights and became a symbol of justice in America.
Personal Connection:
Ruth Bader Ginsberg is a big inspiration for me and I'm sure women everywhere and hearing her story and all of her achievements just inspires me even more. This book was a learning experience for me as well, knowing that she became a lawyer because she saw injustice and wanted to fight to make things right makes me want to do the same. No, I don't want to be a lawyer, but I do want to teach and inspire kids to be good, kind, and exceptional human beings. It's so much easier to learn and change as a child rather than an adult, so if I could give the kids the tools to become their own, unique selves, that be a good and genuine human being, my job as a teacher has been achieved. Not only does this book inspire me to make a change in my students' lives and in the world, but it inspires me to be a feminist, and to create a classroom atmosphere of equality and fairness. This text really just pushes me to be a better future teacher and to work hard for the position, which is a wonderful feeling and source of my motivation.
Classroom Connection:
I think I would use this book, along with maybe a few other biographies of exceptional people, to ask students how they can be good, kind people. This allows students to critically think, observe and learn ways that people have changed the world with their good acts and connect that to what they can do at this moment in their lives. Maybe the teacher could make this a writing assignment where they write about the influential person, like RBG, and then write how they as a student can be a good person as well. Another activity could be the students recognizing more "everyday heroes" of our world and draw pictures of them, maybe connect how these "everyday heroes" and better-known heroes are similar and how they both influence and save the world daily. This book would not only provide to be a good history lesson, but also a source for critical thinking, connecting, recalling, imagining, and writing.
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