Susan Marcus Bends the Rules

When Susan Marcus moved from New York to Missouri, she’s unhappy that she left all her friends and family behind. Unlike New York, Missouri is segregated, so white and colored people can’t be together. Soon Susan becomes good friends with a colored girl, Lorietta, and a white girl named Marlene. They do nothing illegal but are sort of doing something against a law called ‘Jim Crow’, which segregates people. They decide to ride on a bus together, and go to a Chinese restaurant where Susan usually goes with her parents. At the restaurant, a window has been smashed. The cooks come out and threaten to call the police. Susan tries very hard to make them understand that she has come before and she is a friend to them. Finally they understood and let them in. They eat together and get back safely. What was so important about that was that they had just integrated or unsegregated a restaurant. This book was a good lesson that even if all your friends have been left behind you can make new friends. I think it was important that Susan didn’t care what color her friends were.