Warriors Don't Cry

A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High

By: Melba Pattillo Beals

Narrated by: Lisa Reneé Pitts

The landmark 1954 Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education, brought the promise of integration to Little Rock, Arkansas, but it was hard-won for the nine Black teenagers chosen to integrate Central High School in 1957. They ran a gauntlet flanked by a rampaging mob and a heavily armed Arkansas National Guard-opposition so intense that soldiers from the elite 101st Airborne Division were called in to restore order. For Melba Beals and her eight friends those steps marked their transformation into reluctant warriors - on a battlefield that helped shape the civil rights movement.

Warriors Don't Cry, drawn from Melba Beals's personal diaries, is a riveting true account of her junior year at Central High-one filled with telephone threats, brigades of attacking mothers, rogue police, fireball and acid-throwing attacks, economic blackmail, and, finally, a price upon Melba's head. With the help of her English-teacher mother; her eight fellow warriors; and her gun-toting, Bible-and-Shakespeare-loving grandmother, Melba survived. And, incredibly, from a year that would hold no sweet-sixteen parties or school plays, Melba Beals emerged with indestructible faith, courage, strength, and hope.

©1994 Melba Patillo Beals (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Beals, one of the nine black students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, AR, in 1957, tells an incredible story of faith, family love, friendships, and strong personal commitment." (School Library Journal)

This Warrior made me cry!

What did you love best about Warriors Don't Cry?

I've heard the story of the Little Rock Nine, but this tells of the real story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Melba, of course!

What does Lisa Reneé Pitts bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She reads story very well, but when reading the part of her Grandmother dhe brings her alive.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes , I was anxious to return to it everyday.

Any additional comments?

Great story!

Great Book!

I'm definitely not a warrior since I cried a couple of times; and I'm not the type to cry easily. That should tell you how good is this book.

OMG ITS THE BEST THING EVER

omg idk they gave me this book for a project and guess what i love it its the best and i like it but they just told me to get the kid version so i think they should put the version name cuz i didnt kn ow until a next day i found in the interner

Wow!!! incredible and powerful story!

One of the best narrated books I've heard...by far! Do yourself a favor and get this book! Such an incredible book! I am thankful to have been blessed by the characters and their bravery!

Gripping and thought provoking

This is the second time I've read this and still the images are searing and desperately gruesome story of 9 brave heros.