Warriors Don’t Cry is the true account of an African-American teenager attending her junior year in a regular high school. Melba Pattillo Beals was part of a group called the Little Rock Nine, in which were the first African-American students to be part of a whole white school. They attended Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. At the age of fifteen Melba Pattillo Beals constantly faced multiple telephone threats, angry mobs, and even death threats along with her peers. The Little Rock Nine influenced and shaped the Civil Rights Movement. With the help of her eight peers, her mother, and encouraging grandmother, Melba Pattillo Beals was able to overcome all of the obstacles that were standing in her way to a bright future. Melba was able to earn a bachelor’s degree from San Francisco State University and achieved a graduate degree from Columbia University. She worked as an NBC reporter for a long period of time. Today she is the author of books about public relations and is a communications consultant. Her book Warriors Don’t Cry received a Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Book Award and also received an ALA Notable Book in 1995.
Melba Pattillo Beals was the first born of
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Melba overcame various barriers and obstacles to get the proper education she rightfully deserved. No matter the verbal and physical abuse she received, she was still able to keep her head high. They were all taunted, humiliated, and attacked without mercy by the rest of the students at Central High School. I was astonished by the amount of bravery all of the Little Rock Nine had to keep going back to school. Another enjoyable aspect of the book was when Melba described in great detail the life she lived after her experience in Little Rock. It was satisfying to read all of Melba’s achievements after so many years of mistreatment and