Customer Reviews

Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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)!

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.

This book is a very chilling account of one of the Little Rock Nine students. It is important for people of all races to read this, so they can understand the power of hate. You feel as though you are actually in the author's shoes and get somewhat angry at the situation. It's good to know we have come a long way, but still very important to remember history.

Warrior's Don't Cry is about a young girl faced with challenges larger than life. At the age of 15, she is chosen to be one of the 9 students to integrate Central High in Little Rock Arkansas. It is the true story of Melba and her 8 African American classmates as they face all of the challenges of being placed in the all white classrooms of Central High.
The book starts off with Melba's first day at school. We all know how stressful it is to start our first day in High School. These 9 students were never able to have a successful first day because of the hundreds of angry people surrounding the school, yelling "2-4-6-8 We don't want to integrate!" Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine, takes the bus to school. As she gets off of the bus, she is faced with an angry white mob. She tries to circumvent them but they move along with her, creating a human barricade preventing her from going to school. This was during the times when people were hung from a noose by angry white mobs. Throughout the ordeal, Elizabeth keeps her head up and tries to get away. Melba and her mom concoct a plan to distract the hundreds of people and create an escape route for Elizabeth. Finally, she escapes and returns home safely.

Don't let the non-fiction genre intimidate you. This book is full of all the drama of a teenagers' life. This true story shows us how scary and difficult it was to be the only black students in a gigantic school. Every chapter gives you a look to the obstacles the Little Rock Nine had to face. On Melba's first day of school, she is called out of her name on numerous occasions. Even her teachers encourage her classmates' racist behavior. Students yell the N word at her in the middle of class and the unnamed teacher ignores it and just kept on teaching. During P.E., Melba is tripped and falls to the ground. A group of her own classmates attack her and kick her while she is down. Her clothes are in tatters and she is slightly bruised.

Melba's school experience is far from a normal, boring one. After her first days of school, the state militia is called in to mediate the transition. Each one of the Little Rock Nine are assigned a state militiaman to guard them and escort them from class to class during the day. This might seem to ameliorate the situation, but we know that it's not the solution when Melba is choked during a school pep rally.
What would you do if your classmates were out to hurt you and your teachers and principal and vice-principal could not properly protect you? Would you give up or would you keep trekking on? Read Warrior's Don't Cry to find out how Melba fares out in the end.

Title: Warriors Don't Cry
Author: Melba Pattillo Beals
Summary: Warriors Don't Cry is a book about a young African American girl named Melba integrating into an all white high school. It describes her journey through segregation and the hard times that Melba and her family had to go through. She enters Central High with 8 other African American students, not knowing the physical and mental abuse that they were about to endure. Melba sticks through it and fights like a warrior to make it though an entire year.
We enjoyed reading about all the exciting events that happened to Melba , and the 9 other African Americans. It was really interesting learning about integration and knowing it was all a true story made it even more impacting. Having it written by her was empowering because she was there to witness these events. We wished that some of the more exciting events were described more in detail because it would have made the book more suspenseful to see what would happen next. If you want to learn about historical event we would recommend this book to you. Its not the kinda of book that you get a good laugh out of or a good unrealistic story.

I ordered this book as required reading for my 8th graders during a study of the civil rights movement. It was perfect...in every way. Students studied the book in their literature class while talking about civil rights in social studies. It was an easy read and most students were hooked from the first pages. The extent of the brutality with which the members of the Little Rock Nine were treated during the year long integration of Central High School both horrified and moved my students. I highly recommend this first hand account for its effectiveness in communicating what the events of the civil rights movement had to do with the lives of the individuals involved. Very powerful..catalyzed great class discussions. Also loved the 4 for 3 deal through Amazon which made this affordable for my kids.