Warriors Don't Cry, A True Story by Melba Pattillo Beals

Beals, M. (1994). Warriors don't cry. New York: Simon Pulse, 226pp.
Genre: Adolescent Literature, Non-Fiction, Autobiography, Congressional Gold Medal Award Winner.

Warriors Don't Cry is an awesome story told by Melba Pattillo as a true account of her experience being a part of integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. At only 16-years-old, Melba and eight other students fought day and night for their right to be considered equal citizens in an all white Little Rock high school. This novel follows Melba's journey through trials and tribulations she goes through as she experiences the most challenging year of her life. Melba, without parental permission, volunteered herself to attend Central and be a part of the integration. She said that she had always thought that God had saved her life as a child when she was very ill, because she was meant to do something great with her life. These nine students went through a living hell to try a take a stand for racial equality and at such a young age. They were extremely brave as they were called names and beat on everyday in school. Not a single day went by that they weren't purposefully tripped, spit on, called the "n" word, attacked, and utterly humiliated. Family support and counting on Jesus were the only things that got Melba through that awful time in her life. Although one of the nine did graduate the first year that they integrated, Melba and several others did not get to graduate from there because immediately following that school year Governor Faubus had all Little Rock high schools shut down to try and stop integration from happening. A few others of the Little Rock nine did wind up graduating from there after the high schools were later re-opened. All of the LR nine are still alive and well today and recently, in 2007, celebrated a 50 year anniversary remembering the year they spent in Central.

This book is an incredibly fascinating and humbling look at a very important historical event that changed the face of America. Although the story does not go into much detail about each of the nine students, because it is told as Melba saw and experienced it, it still gives enough detail to let us know that every single one of them was challenged every day to stay strong and fight for what they believed in. They all witnessed and were a part of being treated the worst way you could possibly treat a young child. With hardly anyone of their side, these students were responsible for keeping their heads held high even though they were not allowed to defend themselves, and voluntarily endured this torture for an entire year. This book is very historically accurate, while not necessarily bashing any one particular group to harshly, but more so just giving the facts. This book is also really neat because it has some pictures in the middle of it, showing Melba and her family, the LR nine, and pictures of the high school with all of the guards and angry mobs that were constantly surrounding the school. I really enjoyed seeing those because it helped me connect with the characters and also have a better understanding of their setting and just how harsh of a situation they were in. This book definitely appeals to the sense of emotion and I personally could not understand how it would be possible for someone to not have some type of emotional response; whether that be sadness, anger, etc. This book would be great for high school students to study, especially Arkansas high school students because it is a historical representation of something major that happened in our own state. I think that this book could possibly help bridge a gap of understanding for some on how and why African American people feel so strongly about being treated properly and equally, because it was not that long ago that this type of segregation was going on. I also think that it could give students a good insight into how it feels to be labeled and rejected and the suffering that those students go through. Obviously, this book is about racial equality and how at that time, the color of your skin meant the difference in how your entire life was meant to me lived. Students need to know and realize the magnitude of that situation and this book is a great way to show them that.

This book would be great as either an individual read, small group, or whole class read. I think that the whole class could benefit from learning about this, especially if it could somehow be being taught while the students were taking an Arkansas history course. Even if not in Arkansas though, this book would still be great. I wouldn't recommend it as a read aloud because it is too emotionally involving and I know that I personally wouldn't be able to read it aloud without crying.

This book would probably be best for students aging from 14 to 18.

I absolutely loved this book and really learned a lot about the Central integration that I did not know. Like, for one, these students were there voluntarily! I think that is what makes this story so unbelievably incredible. At any point they could have said, "I can't take it anymore," and walked away, but they didn't. Wow. I can't imagine having that kind of courage at 16 years old. I cannot even express how much admiration I have for those nine students and for the stand that they made. This book was so moving and still very educational. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning about the integration at Central High. The only reason I wouldn't recommend it to readers younger than 14 is because of the language, especially the "n" word, but if a reader that age was mature enough to realize that it was in there to be historically accurate then I would say it would be great for them to read as well. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am so glad that I read it!