Product Description
Follow the story of Carlotta Walls LaNier, who in 1957 at the age of fourteen was one of nine black students who integrated the all-white Little Rock Central High School and became known as the Little Rock Nine.
At fourteen years old, Carlotta Walls was the youngest member of the Little Rock Nine. The journey to integration in a place deeply against it would not be not easy. Yet Carlotta, her family, and the other eight students and their families answered the call to be part of the desegregation order issued by the US Supreme Court in its 1954 Brown v. Board of Education case.
As angry mobs protested, the students were escorted into Little Rock Central High School by escorts from the 101st Airborne Division, which had been called in by then-president Dwight D. Eisenhower to ensure their safety. The effort needed to get through that first year in high school was monumental, but Carlotta held strong. Ultimately, she became the first Black female ever to walk across the Central High stage and receive a diploma.
The Little Rock Nine experienced traumatic and life-changing events not only as a group but also as individuals, each with a distinct personality and a different story. This is Carlotta's courageous story.
From School Library Journal
Gr 5 Up-"Why am I just learning about this now?" a student asked Carlotta Walls LaNier when she was speaking about her experience as one of the Little Rock Nine. The 1957 integration of Black students into an all-white high school (a result of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education desgregation order issued by the Supreme Court) was a challenging and daunting time, but the nine students who took that risk made history and broke barriers for future Black children. This book conveys all the emotions and ups and downs Walls LaNier and her friends, family, and community endured. The Little Rock Nine thought going to a new, well-known school in Arkansas would be a great opportunity and open more doors for their future. Instead, they endured mental and physical violence daily from both students and adults in the community. Alongside its incredible historical value, teachers could use this title to teach empathy and respect; it's what all students deserve at any school. VERDICT A compelling account of one of the Little Rock Nine, and the first Black woman to graduate from Central High School. A must-purchase for nonfiction collections and required reading for U.S. history classes.-Cassandra Blandα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review
★ "A compelling and necessary account of facing and surviving injustice." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ “A must-purchase for nonfiction collections and required reading for U.S. history classes.” —School Library Journal, starred review
★ "LaNier offers a well-organized, vividly detailed, and often riveting account of everyday courage and tenacity in the midst of the twentieth-century civil rights movement." —Booklist, starred review
About the Author
CARLOTTA WALLS LANIER attended Michigan State University and graduated from Colorado State College, now the University of Northern Colorado, on whose board of trustees she sits. After working for the YWCA, she founded her own real estate brokerage firm, LaNier and Company. A sought-after lecturer, LaNier speaks at venues across the country, and she has received the Congressional Medal of Honor and two honorary doctorate degrees. She lives in Englewood, Colorado.
LISA FRAZIER PAGE, a professional-in-residence at Louisiana State University, is a former editor and award-winning reporter at the Washington Post. She is coauthor of the New York Times bestseller The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream, and she has collaborated on several other books. A graduate of Dillard University in New Orleans, Page holds a master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. She li
