Warriors Don't Cry

1.)
Beals, M. (1995). Warriors Don’t Cry: The Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock’s Central High School. New York: Simon Pulse, 226pp.

Genre and Awards: Memoir, African American Experience, Intolerance, Making a Difference, Taking a Stand, The American Library Association Award as the 1995 Nonfiction Book of the Year, The prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Book Award, The American Booksellers' Association Award as a notable book of 1995, Included in Reader's Digest 1995 Edition: Today's Best Nonfiction
2.) The memoir begins with Melba telling her readers that she was not suppose to live. Because of complications from her birth and the poor care she received at the white hospital, Melba should have died slightly after her birth on December 7, 1941. However, Grandmother India claims to Melba throughout her childhood that she was predestined for something great. She spends little time beyond that describing her young life. The majority of her pages are dedicated to the year at Little Rock Central and her reactions to the trials she and the other eight students faced. Over the year, she is taunted, teased, has acid thrown in her face, and is alienated by the students at her new school. However, the real story here is how she woke up every day and faced the segregationists. Her restraint and courage are uncommon in a 16 year old.

3.) This memoir is different from most memoirs that I have read. There is an uncommon detail throughout the book. This detail comes from Melba’s actual diary entries, headlines from the Arkansas Gazette, and Melba’s memory as a young aspiring writer. I trust her recollection.

I believe that adolescents would find extensive value in reading this book. High School is scary enough- imaging facing it and participating in a major event in the Civil Rights Movement at the same time. Because I read Melba’s diary entries, I knew all her emotions and I empathized with her. She has many of the same concerns as a typical high school student but a much larger burden on top of that at the same time. Her emotional struggles as she misses the events at her old school and is not included in the events at Central at the same time should be relatable to many students.

Obviously, this book address issues of race and does it well or it would not have won the National Book Award. The friendship Melba develops with one of the white students at Central, Link, gives readers a sense of hope for the future. The fact that Melba spends her last years of high school in San Diego with Caucasian family builds on the hope that the relationship with Link develops.

4, 5.) I would feel comfortable using this book in any way in my classroom. In a perfect world, my best friend-the American History teacher-would do a co-teaching unit on the Civil Rights Movement with me. This book would be appropriate for students in 8th-12th grade. I would recommend this book to students who liked To Kill a Mockingbird or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Sometimes, the content can be difficult but not as difficult as the suggestions above. As well, I feel a book like this should be an important part of the literature of the state of Arkansas.

6.) This book was actually first recommended to me on after I finished my Diversity Champion class at MGM/ MIRAGE. Then, it was on the book list for my Southern Memoir class this spring. This is one of those books that when you finish it you feel like you learned something about human nature. It is on my top ten list of favorite books because of the amount of emotion it took me to get through the book. If I were not from Arkansas, I might not have that emotion. However, as a future teacher I feel everyone has the right to an education and all I wanted throughout the book was for those 9 young people to get that education.