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Summary: Warriors DO cry, and so did this reader!
Review: Warriors Don't Cry is one of the most emotion evoking books I have read in the past year. I had to read this book for a course in college that I was taking, and I wasn't sure to expect. But once I finished the prolauge, I was hooked. I literaly was not able to put this book down, and that's rare for me! This story is Ms. Beals chronicle of a hellish year that she and eight other students endured at Little Rock Central High when they became the first people of color to intergrate a all white school in the South. For one year Ms. Beals and her eight friends endured the unimagineable. They were called names, kicked, spat at, burned, and their lives were threatened numerous times. These nine innocent young people went through this battle so that others like them would have the right to get a good education. But this was a war that no young person of color should have to have fought. Luckly through the love, support, and encouragement of her family and friends, Ms. Beals survived this nightmare. Ms. Beals, who is a former reporter, writes a gripping story that becomes very personal. Through her deft skills as an author, I was not only able to learn what happened to her, but I felt as if I was accompanying her through her ordeal. And I felt anger, frustration, sadness, and utltmately joy for her. I cried of for this poor child and all she had suffered. In addition to her recollections, the excerpts from the diary that she kept during that year and excerpts news articles that chronicled the battle to intergrate Central High School made Ms. Beals story all the more real. This is a book that should not be only read for a class, but I think that everyone should read it.
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Summary: essential reading!
Review: An essential book! Beals is a natural writer, and the crucible forging this story of the integration of Little Rock's Central High School is white racial terror in the South, its instigators and followers, its political actors (Orval Faubus & Eisenhower), and its victims. The author spares no one in her indictment of the REAL story of the American South without ever raising her voice. There is too much humility to suspect that anything but the strict truth is told here-- and a brutal and harrowing truth it is. Anyone who persists in believing that the United States is justified in lecturing another country on human rights abuses should read this book! American schools may be 'integrated' for the most part, and there has indeed been substantial reckoning with respect to the destiny of people of color in this nation, but reading this book one inevitably meets head-on all that yet remains unchanged, unprogressed; one thinks of James Byrd, Rodney King, and so many others. All the same, there is a distinct peace that pervades its pages, one suspects it belongs to the author in full measure, bequeathed to her as an annointed inheritance by her grandmother India, especially, and her mother Lois. Much to admire here-- content, author, and perfectly modulated writing of the highest caliber. My high school daughter recommended this book to me, and that pleases me in what it says about teenage ideas of essential reading as much as does her sure solicitude for her reading dad. Read it and find unaccounted faith in the possibilities of the human spirit.
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Summary: LIKE BEING THERE
Review: This work is perfectly sequenced and thoroughly documented, mainly because the author kept a detailed diary during this period. Years later, her diary, plus archived news reports and a great writing style combined to produce this searing expose. It is the story of the 1957-1958 integration attempt at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, as seen through the eyes of a participant, one of the Little Rock Nine, Melba Patttilo Beals. In WARRIORS DON'T CRY, it's heartwrenching to read of the actual daily brutality and torture of kicks, slaps , spitting, sprays and verbal abuse that these children suffered. The events that occurred at this timne made an unerasable mark of violent racist psyche on the multi-colored design that composes America's people. This book is also emotional because it is easy to see that those in power could have made the transition to integration a much smoother and less painful step into an inevitably better social structure. This was a hard read. I had to put it down several times because the visualization was just too intense, the bigotry and viciousness too unadulterated. Yet, I think it's something every American needs to read so that the actions contained in this book will never be repeated.
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Summary: Warriors Don't Cry
Review: This is a remarkable true story of a fifteen year old girl, Melba, who with eight other black young people are chosen to integrate Little Rock Central High School, in 1957. They become known as the Little Rock Nine. This is three short years after the landmark Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Melba goes through daily telephone threats, physical threats, and verbal insults. These constant threats and taunting are not only from the white students but members of the white community, which greet the students daily as they try to enter the high school building. In the black community, not all were supportive as the Little Rock Nine were also viewed as a threat in that community. The administration of the school provided very little in physical protection or emotional support to assist them through this time. President Eisenhower sent in the 101st Airborne to guard them, which was helpful for the short time they were present. Then the Arkansas National Guard took over and frequently looked the other way when Melba and the rest of the Little Rock Nine were being threatened. The goal of the white community was not to allow the Little Rock Nine to be successful and finish out the school year. But, they did finish and in fact one of them graduated that year! Melba's family that consisted of her grandmother, mother, and younger brother gave her strength, support, and faith to continue every day and to finish the year. Melba concludes the book with an epilogue of the Little Rock Nine's return to Little Rock and to Central High School, thirty years later in 1987. This book is an important book in the literature of the Civil Rights movement as it is a very personal story. It describes the "thinking" of that era very accurately and does not sugar coat the actions of the white or the black community. Melba writes clearly, descriptively, and with great insight to what must have been the most difficult year in her life. The hatred and racism is described so well that you can feel the anger and threat in it. I found this book a difficult book to read because of the racial hatred involved. But it was compelling enough that you wanted to continue reading it and that is certainly good writing. This book would be appropriate for high school students. I recommend it highly.
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Summary: Warriors Don't Cry
Review: Warriors Don't Cry is one of the best books that I have ever read. It is the story Melba Patillo Beals and her quest to intergrate Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas during the Civil Rights Movement. Her and 8 other students fought and struggled with threats, and constant badgering from other white students. Beals story is both heart-breaking and thrilling and keeps you wanting to turn to the next page. I would strongly recommend that everybody reads this book. It's an excellent book.
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Summary: A book for college that I actually loved
Review: I was assigned to read Warriors Don't Cry for a college history course. I assumed from the start that it was going to be an absolutely crummy book and that I should start reading it early or I would never finish it. I did start reading early, but it only took me 2 days to read Warriors Don't Cry. The book is a beautifully told story of the author's (Melba Pattillo Beals)own trying experience as one of the nine brave teens who saught to end segregation in public schools. Warriors Don't Cry is a tremendous example of a young African-American girl coming of age under some of the most horrible circumstances any American has ever had to face. Yet Beals does not leave the reader feeling a sense of hopless desperation despite the situation she herself faced. Beals guides the reader through her experience, often leaving subtle reminders through the eyes of a teenager that all people are equal, that there will always be hope for our nation and for all people who seek to do what is right. I would recommend this bood to anyone. It is a beautifully told story that is easy to read. If anyone should find this on a reading list, I promise that it is definately every bit worth your time and that this book is a shining example of a teacher's excellent choice! (I never knew that it was possible for a teacher to assign a good book!)
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Summary: Warriors Don't Cry
Review: This is the best book that I have ever read. I think that everyone should read it!
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Summary: Powerful and Painful
Review: The narrative of Melba Pattilo Beals and the Little Rock 9 is a powerful story that should be read by all who can read and understand it! I especially recommend it to relunctant readers. Every page offers something rich and rewarding as we are immersed into life as it was during this movement. The struggle for a quality education and the abuse that was suffered was difficult to read about but, the determination and courage of the youth were simply incredible. This is a time that we can not afford to forget. The vocabulary is simple enough for most middle school readers and the text is lively enough for a read aloud as well. Read it, I'm sure you'll come away all the richer for it!
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Summary: Warrior's Don't Cry
Review: Faith...pride...hope. Every day the Little Rock Nine had to walk up the stairs of Central High High School in Little Rock Arkansas with their heads held high in hope that nothing drastic would happen that day. Fear. You would feel the same way if you had to be one of them. They would be spat on, kicked, beaten, and disrespected, all because of the color of their skin. But still they climbed, they climbed higher and higher each day. And as they climbed, the higher they got, and the higher they got, the stronger they became. Until they reached the point where it didn't really matter anymore. Melba Pattillo Beals tells a wonderful story about her life in 1957. The way that she tells her story makes you feel as if you are right their with her, walking through her teenage life in a mirror. She is a wonderful author and stays on track about her horrible and good times. She also addresses in the story her relationship with her grandmother. I respect that about her, I know that it was very hard to talk about the certain things that she did, like the small things, the say that she stroked her head when she was tired, or had had a very bad day. It's hard to talk about things like that. I admire her in that since. This is a wonderful book and i hope that you get a copy of it. I would have to give it five stars.
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Summary: Warrior's Don't Cry Review
Review: Warriors Don't Cry, written by Melba Pattilo Beals was aboutnine black students, called the Little Rock Nine who integratedCentral High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. This was the result of the 1954 Supreme Court ruling of Brown v. Board of Education in Topeka, Kansas. Because of racism, there was an intense degree of difficulty in trying to integrate Central High School. The students had to endure mental and physical abuse caused by the other belligerent, white students. This story of the Little Rock Nine created an emotional and turbulent setting for a novel that delved into racism. At first glance, it appeared to be a controversial peek at the world of the Civil Rights Movement in the late 50's and early 60's. It was depressing and disheartening to believe that these atrocities could happen to human beings. It shows how the human spirit and soul can endure gruesome experiences. From the moment that the students entered the doors of Central High, hatred and bigotry infiltrated the hallways. They were beaten, harassed, and abused by segregationists. There were a small number of white students that had the heart to help the black students survive the tumultuous year. No matter how intolerable the situation was, the black students never gave up. Although the students were able to integrate Central High, bigotry will never be eradicated all together. Basically, people accept differences between one another, but we still have a long way to go in respecting one another. You shouldn't judge people by the color of their skin, their nationality, or their choice of religion. Melba Pattilo Beals was a warrior for her race. In this book, you will get to experience her perspective on the Integration of Central High School. Although this book may anger some people, it is important that we never forget what the Little Rock Nine did to accomplish their goals of integration.
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