A MIGHTY LONG WAY (ADAPTED FOR YOUNG READERS)

The youngest member of the Little Rock Nine faces ghosts from her past to share her story of school integration.

Carlotta Walls grew up in Arkansas in a loving, supportive Black community. In 1957, as a ninth grader at Dunbar Junior High, she added her name to a roster of students willing to integrate Little Rock Central High, which was noted for its excellent education and facilities. However, she and other volunteers faced countless obstacles: The White school superintendent held a meeting with the Black students to let them know that they could not participate in extracurriculars or school social events. The governor sent the Arkansas National Guard to block their entrance. Even after being escorted to school by military troops sent in by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the teens were physically assaulted and verbally harassed by classmates. Segregationists in Little Rock targeted the livelihoods of the Black students’ parents, and Carlotta’s home was bombed. Despite all these obstacles, she graduated, went to college, and became a realtor, Colorado AIDS Project board member, and president of the Little Rock Nine Foundation, which has a college scholarship program. This highly personal story brings the time period to life, giving readers an inside view of what it meant to be a nonviolent participant in integration and exploring how laws have been used to heal or harm citizens. The clear voice shares intimate stories that are clearly contextualized within larger societal events.

A compelling and necessary account of facing and surviving injustice.