Rating: 
Summary: I can't believe I had to read this!
Review: I read this on a school assignment, and if it had been voluntary, I never would have! To start, Beals' style leaves much to be desired. She seems to switch between a normal style to trying to write well and sound all "poor me-ish". As a clarification, I believe ALL people are equal. If you're purple with polka dots, you're equal. So why should she be more so? I do feel bad for her-she went through a horrible experience which was for the better of everyone. But she was very narrow-minded in writting this. I would have sympathized with her, but to me it appeared that her whole purpose in writting this was to make all of the evil, nasty, rich whites feel like we who believe in racail equality are at fault for all crimes against her. To often did she go into this whole thing about how ALL Southerners are awful and since at one point in time, she was lower than us, now we should be lower than her. No, actually, we should be equal now, and I'm very sorry for what happened to her, but she needs to live the future, not the past. I honestly mean it when I say I'm not a racist. If some white (I'm not being politically correct here) wrote a book on how evil blacks are, I'd be just as mad about reading how awful I am because I'm white. I didn't read this on an emotional level, but out looking for her true opinions. I think I found them. As George Orwell said in "Animal Farm", "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others". So she thinks about humans. She is now more equal because at one point we were, not everyone-is-equal because Americans realized their mistake and took steps to correct it. In all, I thought this was a poorly written book with an author who suffered from agreeably malicious abuse and decided that that makes her above the "general population".
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Summary: Great book for all ages
Review: I just finished reading this wonderful novel for my english class. I read enjoyed everything about the book, from start to finish. Beals does an incredible job of giving the reader so much detail that he/she feels they are right there with Melba as she endures the struggles of going to Central High School. Although the book does get depressing at times, it is definetly worth reading the 300+ page book, because the ending is what really ties the book together.
Rating: 
Summary: Nothing so intense as the truth
Review: You must read this book, even though it will be incredibly difficult at times. The suffering that the Little Rock Nine were forced to undergo at the hands of their fellow students at times seems too horrific to be true. But at the same time, their perseverance, their sense of how right they were and of the greater cause they represented, and simply their ability to restrain themselves from striking back are incredibly uplifting.The book will give you an accurate, if frightening, of the racism of the South, and an excellent picture of the civil rights movement and the role of ordinary people in it.
Rating: 
Summary: 'Warriors Don't Cry'
Review: Ms. Beals introduces to readers a world that is as diverse from ours as a parallel universe from the Twilight Zone. Unless you have lived through a period where African-Americans were considered unequal and even lowly compared to Caucasian persons, you cannot fully comprehend just how different of a time the 1950's were. From raging mobs to friends deserting her, Melba endured actions and was loaded down with responsibilities that no teenager should ever have to experience - no person, for that matter. This novel is a work of art; it includes actual diary entries, newspaper headlines from the Arkansas Gazette, and memories of Ms. Beal's that I am convinced are painful to reminisce in. A true reporter, she leaves nothing out and provides facts pertinent to the situation. A true heroine, she puts her own emotions out for anyone to see in order to force them to come to terms with the history of the United States. Having personally spoken with a few members of the Little Rock Nine - the nine African-American students who, in 1957, integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas - I know that sharing the types of abuse, both mentally and physically, that were endured during the 1957-58 school year are anything but what these people desire to recall. I admire each and every one of them; I myself, currently being younger than any of the nine were at the time of the integration, could not imagine myself being able to remain impassive and resist fighting back during a whole school year in which I was being tortured, each and every day. Ms. Beals does an exceptional job of describing her time at Central and the world that was turning around her. There are some factors left out, though, such as other schools throughout the country being integrated. Some things, on the other hand, are nicely included. Some of these are Governor Orval E. Faubus' decisions in the integration process. On September 4, 1957, Faubus recruited the Arkansas National Guard to prevent the Little Rock Nine from being admitted to Central the next morning, even though the court ruling remained. I especially enjoyed the very noticeable alterations in Melba's personality and her creative use of the quote "Warriors don't cry," by India Peyton, her grandmother. This integration was certainly a battlefield, and to me, it is uncertain who came out on top, since Faubus ensured the closing of Central for two years after the initial integrating year. I was, however, disappointed by the lack of information pertaining to the court cases which made the integration of Central High School possible, such as Plessy v. Ferguson of 1896 and Brown v. Board of Education of 1954, and the cases occurring later, like Cooper v. Aaron(1958). Overall, it is an excellent book, and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in civil rights. I also recommend reading "White is a State of Mind," by Melba Pattillo Beals, "These Liberties", by Rocco Tressolini (out of print), "The Long Shadow of Little Rock," by Daisy Bates, among many others.
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Summary: A searing tale by an American freedom fighter
Review: This book tells the story of Melba Beals Patillo, one of the nine students to integrate Central High School in Little Rock in September 1957. Perhaps the greatest attribute the author holds is the ability to make the reader feel that they are right their with her as she gets acid thrown in her face, locked in a bathroom stall and had flaming toilet paper dropped on her, had a knife held to her face, students teaming up to walk at her heels in to the point of them bleeding, and faced innumerable minor physical and verbal assualts every second of her presence on the school grounds. This book tells the story of young girl who before her junior year at Central was a pretty, sweet, pious, obedient girl who had pious, obedient friends and liked to sit alone in her room with her stuffed animals and look through magazines full of pictures of the pop stars of the day. As she went through the year, she hardened, got to the point where she could kick one her main tormentors in the crotch when grabbed from behind, bite the wrist of a boy who was holding a knife to her face. She was able to use techniques of mental self-defense that quite baffled the crackers. She became a warrior as urged by Danny, her gaurd from the 101'st Airborne division in the relatively brief time he was with her (before Eisenhower pulled the 101st out once Central High stopped being a PR nuisance). She even, gasp, told her grandmother a lie. This is when she went with Link, the white jock a year older than her,possibly the closest thing to a white hero in the book, to go see Link's old black nanny living in the shacks of North Little Rock. This visit to the Nanny's neighborhood brought to my attention Melba's superior class position to other blacks in Little Rock. They lived in something close to a Middle class neighborhood, in large part because of her mother's teaching job. Towards the end of the 57-58 school year, her mother looses her job, her bosses attempting to blackmail her into getting Melba out of Central High in return for her getting her job back. She eventually outmaneuvers them and gets her job back though not before some anxiety. She sets out Link, his character and motives, pretty clearly. She seems to want to let the reader decide. Link appears out of nowhere with a few months left in the school year and tries to protect Melba covertly, he, like the rest of the white students and faculty, too intimidated to make any overt displays of kindness to the black students. He seems to have some sort of Freudian attachment to her, related to his old nanny, and clearly wants her sexually. He became enraged when she refused to get romantic with him and breaks off contact with her when she married another white person, a soldier. She divorced this soldier seven years later on the ground that he wanted her to be a homemaker. It's interesting that she says that she later realized that this white soldier was a symbol like Danny and Link as well as the racist authorities holding black people at their mercy in the South, of her placing herself under the protective wing of white men. This story also seems to contradict the dominant portrayal of the Little Rock integration as a relatively benign affair after initial uproars. As I said before, the author experienced terror every day of the school year and she is able to make the reader feel it.
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Summary: Life as One of the Little Rock Nine
Review: Warriors Don't Cry
By: Melba Beals Warriors Don't Cry is a sad, yet encouraging story of a courageous young lady. At the age of thirteen Melba Patillo Beals volunteered to integrate Central high in Little Rock, Arkansas. On May 17, 1954 the Supreme Court ruled in Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas that separate schools for whites and blacks were illegal. Melba often dreamed of seeing the inside of Central High. The best education and preparation for college was believed to happen inside of those doors. When she finally told her grandmother and mother that she volunteered to integrate they began to fear for Melba's life. This memoir of Melba's diary and her mother's notes explain how she decided to integrate with eight other students and the profound struggles they faced in every day life. In 1957, her fate began. Two weeks after the first attempt to integrate Central High the "Little Rock Nine" stepped foot into the huge and overwhelming school. The nine of them faced extreme violence every day. The teachers and students never let them walk by without some kind of rude comment. Melba was tripped, kicked, spat on, and verbally abused. Every day she spent in Central High there was a new struggle to overcome. She held strong and would only cry when she was behind the doors of her bedroom. The only place she could escape reality. Melba was one of "God's Warriors". Arkansas governor encouraged the violence toward the nine black students at Central High. He held meetings with the white students to help them come up with a way to scare the "Little Rock Nine" out of Central. The president sent soldiers in hopes that they would be able to aid in slowing down the violence. Although the violence never completely ceased Melba and seven of the other courageous students graduated from Central High. The "Little Rock Nine" became warriors that will forever be remembered.
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Summary: Warriors Don't Cry
Review: This was a GREAT Book! What more can I say. BUY IT!
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Summary: Stunning! A thrill from the first sentence!By Hansel Schles
Review: Stunning!Melba Pattillo Beals you instantly. Warriors Don't Cry is the tale intergrating Central High in Little Rock. Anyone interested in Civil Rights will love it.
The plot is 99.9% full steam ahead, and never gets dull!The main characters are all believable. Grandma India is just like a stereotypical southern lady with loads of hospitality and spirit! Melba is one of the most interesting characters I have ever read about. She's always asking great questions and trying her doubt of religion from her religous family.
The less important characters are not as well developed. You don't really get to know them. They are merely mentioned here and there. This is understandable, however, because throughout the course of the book, Melba is isolated from friends and even family.
As you get to know Melba, you watch her transform from a popular girl to a bullied outcast by bothe whites and blacks. Melba fights back with smiles and pleasant "thankyou"'s towards her attackers. She forgives her "foes" due to her mother, grandma, brother, and her very few friends.
Sure, a few of the characters could have been more developed, but if I ever write, I hope it's as clear and down to earth as Melba Pattillo Beals does in Warriors Don't Cry. It's a winner- a real page turner. This book is 10,000 times better than watching stupid soap operas or cartoons on t.v.!
Read this book and become a part of a tale of hate, love, forgiveness, war, life, and death.
Rating:
Summary: A Roller Coaster Ride
Review: I think this story had an interesting and important plot. The plot was a true part of history and I feel that that makes it more and important and interesting. I think the main character's, Melba, best trait was how she never gave up no matter how hard things were on her. I think the book would have been better if kids were able to relate to it a bit more. Otherwise, it was really good. It's like a roller coaster ride. Parts of it are like going up a hill and when you go down your stomach is left behind. I strongly suggest this book to people who enjoy reading about things that have really happened but aren't like old textbooks.
Rating:
Summary: A Roller Coaster Ride
Review: " I think the story had an interesting and important plot. The plot was a true part of history and I feel that that makes it more important and more intersting. I think the main character's, Melba, best tarait was how she never gave up no matter how hard things were. I think the book would have been a bit better if kids were able to relate to it more. Otherwise, I think it was a really good book. It's like a rollarcoaster. Parts of it are like going up the hill and then you fly down when your stomach's still left behind. I strongly suggest this book to people who enjoy reading about things that really have happened but aren't like old textbooks."
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