The Bottom Line
This is one of the best books for younger students to get a feel for what happened to the students at Central High in 1957.
Pros
- Very personal account which makes you feel like you are there.
- Quotes from diaries written at the time.
- Puts a face to the Crisis as opposed to spouting off facts.
Cons
- There aren't many facts or statistics.
- You only get one view of the story.
Description
- The author was one of nine black teen-agers who in 1957 integrated Little Rock Central High School.
- She went to school in the face of opposition from Gov. Orval Faubus and the state National Guard.
- It is written to be easy to understand for young children in the 4th through 6th grades.
- It is written in first person. It gives the reader a taste of what Beals was feeling.
- Wonderful use of quotes from her diary to keep her honest. You know how she truly felt at the time.
- Her writing is truly heartfelt.
Guide Review - A Voice From the Past
This book is an emotional look at one of the Little Rock Nine's decision to attend Central and the ordeals she went through while in attendance. The book is very well written and the agony and violence the young girl was subjected to leap from the page. It's a very hard read since you realize this isn't some fictional novel. This really happened. The book was written from the diary Mrs. Beals kept as a child and her mother's notes during the time of the Crisis so it's an accurate look into the mind of a young girl. She even supplies a few quotes from her diaries so you know exactly what she was thinking while all of this was happening to her.
