Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High [Mass Market Paperback]

Melba Pattillo Beals (Author)

Book Description

Release date: July 24, 2007

An innocent teenager.

An unexpected hero.

In 1957, Melba Pattillo turned sixteen. That was also the year she became a warrior on the front lines of a civil rights firestorm. Following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, Melba was one of nine teenagers chosen to integrate Little Rock's Central High School.

Throughout her harrowing ordeal, Melba was taunted by her schoolmates and their parents, threatened by a lynch mob's rope, attacked with lighted sticks of dynamite, and injured by acid sprayed in her eyes. But through it all, she acted with dignity and courage, and refused to back down.

This is her remarkable story.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Beals, one of the nine black students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, AR, in 1957, tells an incredible story of faith, family love, friendships, and strong personal commitment." ---School Library Journal

--This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

About the Author

Melba Pattillo Beals is a journalist and member of the Little Rock Nine, a group of African-American students who were the first to integrate Central High in Little Rock, Arkansas.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Age Range: 12 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse; Reissue edition (July 24, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416948821
• ISBN-13: 978-1416948827
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #11 in Books > Teens > Social Issues
  • #25 in Books > History > Modern (16th-21st Centuries) > 20th Century

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 38 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Caution: Abridged Version April 19, 2011

By Andrew

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It is quite disappointing to me that Amazon says it NOWHERE on the product page, nor does it say so on the cover of the book, but this is an abridged version. The only mention of its abridgement occurs on the title page. Nearly a hundred pages have been cut out of this version. I purchased this book for a class and missed a lot of the references that were given in discussion.

It's a good read, but go for the full version.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Buyer Beware - This one is Abridged January 19, 2012

By Susan E. Burns

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Agree with prior reviewer with disappointment that Amazon did not specify anywhere that this copy is abridged. The only way to tell is to notice the number of pages. I ordered this under time pressure for a school project only to find out on day one of the class discussion that I was missing all sorts of bits that are only in the full version. I am a very loyal Amazon consumer, and will continue to be so, but am surprised that they can't find a way to easily flag an abridged book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Segregation in 1957 Little Rock. May 26, 2009

By Kevin M Quigg VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

A heartfelt story by a young woman of her struggle in integrating the largest Little Rock high school. Since this is a personal struggle, I was capavatated by her struggle to survive in a very hostile environment of an all white school. She was kicked, spit at, tripped, punched, violated due to the Supreme Court decision to integrate this high school. Imagine a setting where both the students and most of the teachers were hostile to her on a daily basis. This was a huge cross to bear for such a young woman.

This is a nice memorial to the struggle to integrate. Her story is inspirational and a good read for those looking for an uplifting story.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Moving and Motivational March 16, 2009

By Rhonda V.

Format:Mass Market Paperback

If you are looking for a motivational and moving story, you should consider reading "Warriors Don't Cry." Melba is truly inspirational, and her courage and bravery will stay with you for days. In the own of Little Rock, Arkansa something big is happening. Nine black students have been chosed to integrate into Central High, a traditionally all white school. Many challenges await Melba including attacks from fellow students, the threatening late night phone calls, and even the abandonment of her old friends. Told in first person you get a true glimpse into the pain glimpse into the pain of being judged just by the color of your skin.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Shadows of Darkness Past September 29, 2008

By Caitlin Looney

Format:Mass Market Paperback

The story of Melba Patillo Bates' struggles as a part of the "Little Rock Nine" to integrate Central High School serves as a haunting reminder to the American public, especially the South, which sometimes turns a blind eye to its unpleasant past. In the book, Warriors Don't Cry, Patillo relies on her own personal first-person narrative to tell the tale of the years 1954-1960, even including entries from her own diary that her grandmother purchased for her at the age of twelve.
The action of her story begins with the day of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, which also happens to be the first time violence affects Melba. Her class is dismissed early out of fear of violence, and on her way home, Melba is attacked by a white man. She later writes in her diary some of the most powerful words in the novel, "I have to keep up with what the Supreme Court Justices are doing. That way I can stay home on the day the Justices vote decisions that make white men want to rape me."
Unfortunately this is only the beginning of a tale of violence that causes the reader to be desperate to find one decent white character in the tale. Simply reading the novel makes the reader to wish that the setting was some far away country like Afghanistan, where they could write this injustice away as some other society's doing.
Although the bulk of the plot follows Melba during her first hideous year at Central High School, in which she is attacked with fists, glass and acid, much of her story surrounds the family that supported her through the year of 1957. Melba's relationship with her grandmother, India, is a central focus of the novel.... Grandmother India supports the fifteen year old Melba through her troubles, but also teaches her how to be a warrior in the face of the adversity from people who truly would rather see her dead than attend school with their children. This advice is written with the rawness of Beals' revealing something so obviously meaningful in her life.
Beals' work is significant because it forces us to come to terms with what some of us may want to forget, some never knew, and something we all just wish never happened the way it did. Beals refuses to hold back for the sake of making the reader comfortable and refuses to settle for any story but the occasionally repulsive truth of our country's history. Read more ›

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Adolescent Must Read January 17, 2011

By F. K. Anderson

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an excellent memoir written with detailed descriptions of the author's views and feelings during a not so pretty time in American history. She has vividly described a year of challenge and a sort of triumph while including issues of friendship, racism, love, loyalty, determination, ignorance, fear, and courage. I've recommended this book to be a must read for all middle school students in my school (Chicago)!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars the truth is always hard to face January 10, 2011

By Vanessa

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is a good book. It's well-written. It's interesting. And it's extremely engaging. But most importantly- it's REAL. The Publisher's Weekly review towards the top of the page seems to try to undermine her experience by referring to "dubiously recreated conversations". Anyone who had something so truamatic happen to them would undoubtedly have the details deeply etched in their memory. It's an unforgettable experience- what she went through. We hear about the Little Rock Nine all the time and just take it for granted that it's just this little space in history. But this book brought home just how significant and meaningful- and how much more complex and drawn out the struggle really was. Both at a personal level,national level and global level.This woman is truly a hero, as are all the protagonists in the story for going through what she went through, coming out of it alive and living to tell the story. I am so grateful to her for bringing this truth and knowledge about the black struggle in the South to the world. I think all the negative reviews are probably from the people who kicked and punched them in the school as youngsters. But I also have to mention that what makes this book so great is the reality in which it's grounded in. It's so relatable and beleivable and ultimately tells the story of a young girl coming of age and the love and spirituality of a mother and grandmother that grounded her and enabled her to acheive this wonderful thing.