Review Detail

Reader reviewed by max

The book Warriors Dont Cry is about the story of integrating schools in the south during the late 50s, specifically, Central High School, in Little Rock, Arkansas. All the atrocities committed against Melba Patillo Beals, the author and main character as well as 8 other black children is terrible. If you think we havent come very far with civil rights, this book would completely change your thoughts. Reading about what they had to go through can be both depressing and inspiring.

While the introduction and first few pages are very engaging, it then slows down until Beals actually goes to CHS. Also, some of the courtroom drama and them staying home for safety gets boring. However, once Beals is allowed to go to the school, the book speeds up considerably and stays that way until the very end. Beals uses parts of her diary and newspaper articles to tell the story, as well as her writing. Also, instead of just writing about her suffering at school, she writes about how it turned her into a warrior, and ultimately consumed her entire life. However, the last day of school was anti-climatic, and then she was barred from returning next year, which ruined the feeling of triumph at the end. In the end, she has 5-6 pages of refection, which were kind of dull. If she just ended at the end of the school year, and wrote more about it, then had the last few pages be an Afterward or Authors Note, the whole book would be better.