A Mighty Long Way

June 1, 2009
At 14, Lanier was the youngest of the “Little Rock Nine,” who integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1951; she went on to become the first African –American young woman to receive a diploma from the school. Her memoir provides a firsthand account of a seismic shift in American history. She recalls the well-reported violence outside the school and daily harassment and ineffective protection from teachers and guards. Away from school, the Nine were honored and feted, but their parents found their jobs—even their lives—in jeopardy. Lanier’s house was bombed, and a childhood friend, Herbert Monts, was falsely accused and convicted. Monts’s account of his experiences, shared with Lanier, 43 years later, is historically newsworthy. Lanier’s recollections of family history and her relatively pedestrian experiences after high school graduation (graduate school, job hunting, marrying, finding her new home in Denver) lack the drama of her historical moment. In a sense, Lanier didn’t make history, history made her. Her plainspoken report from the front line is, nevertheless, a worthy contribution to the history of civil rights in America.

June 15, 2009
Well-crafted look at the wrenching experience of the youngest of the"Little Rock Nine."

In the fall of 1957, three years after Brown v. Board of Education ordered the desegregation of all U.S. public schools, 14-year-old Carlotta Walls (now LaNier) signed up to be among the first black students at previously all-white Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas. This na™ve, earnest decision would affect every facet of her life, as well as the lives of her family and neighbors. Coached and encouraged by the local NAACP branch, ten students attempted to attend Central High, only to be turned back by an ugly mob and the Arkansas National Guard, dispatched to encircle the school by staunch segregationist Gov. Orval Faubus. As lawsuits pressed by Thurgood Marshall and other civil-rights lawyers were pursued, President Eisenhower dispatched federal paratroopers to avoid"anarchy" and accompany each of the nine students (one had given up) to their classes."Getting inside Central was just the beginning," remembers the author; now she faced"a brand new struggle: finding a way to survive." The daily abuse, both verbal and physical, caused intense stress; LaNier's memoir vividly depicts the students' and their families' blistering struggles. Faubus illegally closed down all the area high schools during the'58-59 school year ("the Lost Year"), and the violence worsened; Walls' home was bombed. She left Little Rock for college and a career, loath even to mention her involvement for many years. Finding her voice, as she notes, came much later, and this hindsight account suggests that the nation still has not achieved closure about the painful events at Little Rock.

Keenly observed and moving.

(COPYRIGHT (2009) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from August 15, 2009
Much has been written about the integration of Little Rock Central High School in 195758, but LaNieryoungest of the Little Rock Nineoffers a different perspective as a student who was eager for a good education but never really wanted to be at the center of such a momentous event. Facing abuse from white students, she also avoided the press and shunned attention from supporters. While many of the Little Rock Nine ended up attending school elsewhere, following the closing of all Little Rock high schools for the 195859 school year by Governor Faubus, LaNier returned for her senior year. She survived the bombing of her home, graduated from Central, and left Little Rock intending never to look back (she lives with her family in Colorado and founded a real estate brokerage firm). VERDICT With honest clarity, LaNier acknowledges what Little Rock's African Americans lost because of Central's integration: secure jobs, a strong sense of community, and the special commitment of the well-qualified teachers at black schools. Not until 50 years later was LaNier able to confront her past and embrace her role in civil rights history. An engaging and moving book; highly recommended.Kathryn Stewart, Proquest/Library of Congress, Washington, DC

Copyright 2009 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2009
In 1957 nine black students integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, triggering a firestorm of violence. LaNier, at 14, was one of the group that came to be known as the Little Rock Nine. Overwhelmed by the hatred she and others faced, as well as the national notoriety and talk of their bravery when they were just teenagers trying to get a good education, LaNier has for nearly 40 years been fairly silent about the experience. When President Bill Clinton honored the nine with the Congressional Gold Medal, LaNier began to tell her own story. In this gripping memoir, she recalls her family history of achievement, her decision to go to Central, the harassment and abuse she suffered, and the disrupted school years as she took correspondence courses and went to school elsewhere. She also recalls the bombing of her familys home and the unjust conviction of a family friend blamed for the bombing.A moving, very personal account of the aftermath of the 1954 Brown decision that began the painful process of desegregation.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)