Warriors Don't Cry

Ever wondered what it would be like to be an African American teenage girl thrust into the battlefield of the civil rights movement? You might have an idea in the deepest darkest corner of your imagination… think again. Melba Pattillo a sixteen year-old in 1957 has been in enrolled in Central High School along with 8 other African American students… the Little Rock 9. After the Supreme Court ruling, Brown v. Board of Education she and her classmates become warriors, no longer care free teenagers. As she enters the school grounds a mob of bloodthirsty people greet her. Once she is inside, the terrible swear words still echoing in her head, she approaches her new classroom. The minute she steps in new swear words are distributed to her. She sits in class trying to focus on her schoolwork as everyone around curses and discriminates her. After class she rushes into the hall only to walk into another crowd of people. Through out this story you will see her clothes singed by lighted pieces of paper as she stands helpless in a bathroom stall, you will see her hold in her tears as the teachers refuse to help her. You will cry as she washes burning acid from her eyes another classmate’s “prank”. Feel her pain as she crashes to the floor after being pushed down a flight of stairs. But Melba never backs down she never cries and always keeps fighting. This book is beautifully written, an intense yet uplifting book. I loved it and I hope you do too. This book is for the warriors within us, we to have warriors who don’t cry.