Book Review: Warriors Don't Cry
Melba Beals' memoir begins: "In 1957, while most teenage girls were listening to Buddy Holly's 'Peggy Sue,' watching Elvis gyrate, and collecting crinoline slips, I was escaping the hanging rope of a lynch mob, dodging lighted sticks of dynamite, and washing away burning acid sprayed into my eyes."
Many are familiar with the the Little Rock Nine- the nine African American students who chose to integrate into Central High School in 1957. Photographs such as the one of Elizabeth Eckford (below) are familiar images of the civil rights movement, and books such as "The Lions of Little Rock" tell the story of these brave students.
Although there have been a plethora of fiction (and a couple non-fiction) books covering the civil rights movement in recent years, Beals' memoir remains the one book I'd recommend to anyone on the civil rights movement in America.
Much was made about the first days and weeks that these students went to Central High School, but what about the days and weeks prior? Beals discusses what life was like before, how she and her family made the decision to be one of those who integrated, and how their friends, community and the world responded. Her diaries and notes serve as material she used to narrate a book covering the entire year: once the cameras were gone and the conflict continued. "Warriors Don't Cry" is a very readable book, drawing the reader into the year alongside Melba and her classmates. Throughout the story, the reader is shown the courage and perseverance of these students, but also their struggles- they were teenagers in a high school where they were hated, with so many people around the world waiting for them to fail.
-Reviewed by Teresa S., Library Staff at Nokesville Library
Check out Warriors Don't Cry from PWPLS here. (You can also try the abridged version here, but the original is a pretty quick read)
