Genre: Historical Fiction
Age Level: 14 and up
# of Pages: 229 p.
RAC Book: Yes
Sylvia Patterson lives in Little Rock, Arkansas in the year 1957. The big issue in her town is the new order to integrate their schools. Her older brother, Reggie, wants to be one of the lucky chosen few but due to his short temper he is not selected. Sylvia, on the other hand, is a smart level headed girl who has been chosen for the list of students to get interviewed for the integration. The students who are selected to integrate are not allowed to attend any school functions or belong to any school clubs, but many feel it is still important since they are making huge steps for future generations. As Sylvia gets closer to the imminent first day of school several acts of violence and prejudice begin to convince her that maybe she should just return to her own school.
The pressures put on these students before they ever entered the white school in Little Rock are discussed and explained in a way that any student can understand how these students must have felt going into this situation. Sylvia and her family deal with many acts of injustice and violence in this town and still want to believe and hope for a better life in the future. The actual incidents at Little Rock during the integration are not discussed as much as the events leading up to it, but the story really accents what those students had to go through and the courage they felt to even approach that white school. Students studying this time period will get a broader perspective of these students than they could ever get in a history book.
Young Adult Book Reviews 
diz book iz poppin!!!!!!!!
I’m reading this book in class and it’s better then all the ice cream flavor a combined
This book was vey educatinol
hello my name is Sylvia i loved this book because i brought back momeryz of when my granda mother told me stories the day the book came my granmaq bought it for me and told to read the whole thing then the next day she passed away the next day
most boreing book i have ever read…:/
you only thinks its boring because you don’t know good literature when you see it.
i agree
Maybe that person doesn’t have the same taste in books in other people. Maybe he/she thought it actually was boring. Don’t judge someone for their opinion.
AMAZING BOOKKK!!!!!!
this book is really good this is my fav book
This book was pretty good, its kinda hard to write a review on it. [What im doing now]
this book is amazing it makes you feel like you are really there and the author writes amazing books i have read many and i like them all this book is allsome
i actually havent read it but have a report due. what i have read so far is very well written. i like it
this book is very good and I would incouarge anybody that see this book they should read it
this was very good and had alot of sperspectives. i really enjoyed and i am only eight and this book is for older kids
Just wanted to say…Slyvia’s brother’s name is Gary. The Boy she likes is named Reggie
i have not yet read this book but i am really looking forward to reading this book. i enjoy reading all of sharon m draper books.
My son had to read this book over the summer before he enters into high school. I must say I also read it and it was remarkable and touching to the heart. It’s amazing what Afro Americans had to go through with the struggles and sacrifices. I respected Sylvia’s decision for the chooses she had make. My mother lived through this era while in grade school and had an opportunity to integrate but choose not too. I think all kids should read this book as a requirement, after reading it your surely get something out of it as a learing experience.
I agree 100% with you!
I really, really like this book. It was very interesting and I learned a lot from it.
i like this book very much, but i think you got one mistake.
Sylvia’s brother’s name is Gary , not Reggie. Reggie is her boyfriend.
Of course. Thanks
i love this book because i like the action caues when i started i started of in action.that is why i liked it so much even though my teacher forced me to
this book was so amazing and sylvia looks super hot….im going to beat up reggie
i love this book it made me sad wen she got bit by that dog that was trained to attack negroes
i loved this book.. now i just got to write a report on it !! i think all kids should try to read it because once you read a page you fall with the book .:)
this book is so amazing. it teaches u the pressures and stuggles of those students chosen 2 intrgrate the schools. this book is 4 everyone. so please read it.
this book is great andvery well written
Who ever wrote this review got it wrong. Reggie was her boyfriend, Gary is her brother’s name. You said she should just returm to her own school in the end of the first paraghraph. She would either attend Mann as a freshman. which means it would be her first year there. But everything else is cool ! (: But anyways this book was so good. They should make it where yu have to read this. Im sure everybody would love it. And part of it is true. Its based on what really happend. Central high was a real school in Littlerock, Arkansas in 1957.
i am reading this book in my class and so far it is wonderful i actually think it will have a good ending and that sylvia made a change and helped intergrate central high school.All schools.
im reading this book in class:) i luv it!…..;)
i loved this book because it’s telling what actually happened instead of fabricating it but im pretty sure Reggie was her boyfriend and Garys her brother? other then that the book was AWESOME 😀
good book
This book is amzing . I like how sharon draper wrote about that story , it was so sad I felt like crying
what was the plot of this book ?
i never read this book but i know its real good because i have to read it and its for a hughes high school
its really good. you should read it !
who ever doesnt like this book sucks.
You people haven’t read the book, Sylvia’s older brother is Gary not Reggie LOOK AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE
this book is really good. i really didnt even want to put it down. it only took me like 4 days to read it because i read it continueously. i loved it and would recommend it to anyone !
I really really really like this book…. It had me think about how life was back then… and that wasn’t nice how they use to do black people…But other then that I love the book….
love it
im looking forward to reading it
This book is amazing! And my friend says hello!
Great Book love it