A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

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A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

by Carlotta Walls LaNier, Lisa Frazier Page

3.96 of 5 stars 3.96 · rating details · 168 ratings · 57 reviews

When fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challenge prevailing attitudes, brea...more When fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the “Little Rock Nine,” as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challenge prevailing attitudes, break down barriers, and forever change the landscape of America.

Descended from a line of proud black landowners and businessmen, Carlotta was raised to believe that education was the key to success. She embraced learning and excelled in her studies at the black schools she attended throughout the 1950s. With Brown v. Board of Education erasing the color divide in classrooms across the country, the teenager volunteered to be among the first black students–of whom she was the youngest–to integrate nearby Central High School, considered one of the nation’s best academic institutions.

But for Carlotta and her eight comrades, simply getting through the door was the first of many trials. Angry mobs of white students and their parents hurled taunts, insults, and threats. Arkansas’s governor used the National Guard to bar the black students from entering the school. Finally, President Dwight D. Eisenhower was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to establish order and escort the Nine into the building. That was just the start of a heartbreaking three-year journey for Carlotta, who would see her home bombed, a crime for which her own father was a suspect and for which a friend of Carlotta’s was ultimately jailed–albeit wrongly, in Carlotta’s eyes. But she persevered to the victorious end: her graduation from Central.

Breaking her silence at last and sharing her story for the first time, Carlotta Walls has written an inspiring, thoroughly engrossing memoir that is not only a testament to the power of one to make a difference but also of the sacrifices made by families and communities that found themselves a part of history.

Complete with compelling photographs of the time, A Mighty Long Way shines a light on this watershed moment in civil rights history and shows that determination, fortitude, and the ability to change the world are not exclusive to a few special people but are inherent within us all.(less)

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published August 25th 2009 by One World/Ballantine (first published 2009)

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Jan 16, 2013 Anna Ligtenberg rated it 5 of 5 stars

ISBN 034551100X - Books about Civil Rights have taken on new interest for me, especially with the election of Barack Obama, the death of civil rights warrior Senator Ted Kennedy, and the (hopefully) shifting view of race in this country. That was the reason I picked up this particular book. I got what I was looking for and much more.

Carlotta Walls Lanier begins her story years before she became famous as part of the Little Rock Nine. A short family history and her life story, up to age 14, lead...more ISBN 034551100X - Books about Civil Rights have taken on new interest for me, especially with the election of Barack Obama, the death of civil rights warrior Senator Ted Kennedy, and the (hopefully) shifting view of race in this country. That was the reason I picked up this particular book. I got what I was looking for and much more.

Carlotta Walls Lanier begins her story years before she became famous as part of the Little Rock Nine. A short family history and her life story, up to age 14, lead up to the events that threw her into the national, even international, spotlight. The story of the Little Rock Nine, nine black students who simply wanted to better their education, and their Herculean efforts to do the most mundane of things - walk through the door of their high school - is well-known, but Walls's viewpoint is fresher and certainly more immediate than something written by an historian.

There's something in the writing style here that's hard to explain. The general population, regardless of age, could probably sit down and write about something traumatic that happened during high school, possibly even something that spanned the entirety of their high school career. The reader of that effort would, most likely, read it with a sense of "oh, look, a band-aid", not finding anything there that was especially deep. I don't know why that is, precisely. Perhaps that's because Walls Lanier (with Lisa Frazier Page) is a far more gifted writer than most of us; perhaps it's because her story is far bigger than the average high school story. Whatever the reason, reading this book had the "oh, look, a band-aid" feel for about 50 pages. After that, the band-aid was off and what you thought was under it... was under it.

Much of Walls Lanier's book doesn't read like it was written by a woman in her 60s, the voice here is 14 years old, mostly innocent, and - eventually - scared, wounded, even quietly angry. She doesn't sound like a heroine. She doesn't sound like an icon. She sounds like an intelligent child who walks through fire, not to showcase her bravery, but because it's the way to get where she's trying to go. The ability to reach back and speak in that voice is a gift, here, and probably a curse for the author. Her memories seem stark and detailed, the kind that few events in most lives ever evoke, and if they live as vividly in her mind as they do on these pages, I hope that writing them down eases them for her. I've never read a book before that made me feel quite as much as this one does - from anger and sympathy to awe and inspiration, and even some light-hearted moments. I am a fan of the book, yes, but a far bigger fan of Walls, her eight fellow students and the people who helped them along the way, as best they could.

- AnnaLovesBooks(less)

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Dec 11, 2012 Cleo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Carlotta Walls LaNier was one among the nine black students who entered Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957. The nine came to be known as the "Little Rock Nine", and then changed history. Just to get into the high school involved the calling in of federal security (the governor of Arkansas himself tried to prevent the students from entering.) This is Carlotta's memoir of her experiences and then life afterwards. I found A Mighty Long Way quite moving indeed; Carlotta and the ot...more

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Oct 04, 2012 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

The book i read for my first quarter Good Reads Project was A Mighty Long Way by Carlotta Walls,I believe the author's purpose for writing this book was to inform the readers of how serious racism was after World War II. The author also describes her life and all of the obstacles she had to overcome, just in order to get an education. Obstacles that Carlotta had to rise above included racist people continuously taunting her, and the constant disrespect that she received from the white people of...more

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Mar 20, 2010 Mommalibrarian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: black-studies

I just finished A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier with Lisa Frazier Page. Carlotta was one of the Little Rock Nine. If that means nothing to you let me recount a little history: "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954),[1:] was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students, denying black children equal educationa...more I just finished A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier with Lisa Frazier Page. Carlotta was one of the Little Rock Nine. If that means nothing to you let me recount a little history: "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954),[1:] was a landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court that declared state laws establishing separate public schools for black and white students, denying black children equal educational opportunities unconstitutional." Wikipedia. I am sure there were places where this ruling was happily accepted and school districts immediately began correcting the wrongs. Even in Arkansas several small towns integrated. In 1955, the Little Rock school board came up with a very conservative, gradual (phased in over six years) introduction of integration. First the school board built two new high schools one for whites and one for blacks. This move was very popular in the black community - they were very proud of this new school. Then Nine extremely successful students from exemplary family backgrounds were hand-picked to attend Little Rock Central High in the fall of 1957. It was further planned that in the following years more carefully chosen students would enter the all-white junior high and elementary schools. Well, things did not go smoothly. The nine students were harassed by mobs outside the school, mistreated by fellow students and not supported by many of the teachers. Segregationist bombed several locations including Carlotta's home. These nine children were traumatized but almost all of them stuck it out.

Carlotta describes her experiences in tense terms, chapter after chapter. At the end of the book she brings up the unspeakable; black parents no longer uniformly support all the children within their reach, they hold education in low regard. Carlotta said, "I didn't go to Central because I felt a strong desire to sit next to white people in class. I put my life on the line because I believed Central offered the best academic opportunities. I had hoped that the resulting interaction with people of another race would be a bonus, a great exchange of cultures and ideas. It is hurtful now when I hear that in many urban schools, where the student populations tend to be overwhelmingly black, it is not considered cool to be smart. . . . How did we -- particularly black men and women who endured the struggle and benefited from it --- allow such a cultural shift from the time when education was widely viewed in our community as the way to a better life?"

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I read many educational blogs and some of the papers they cite. Many people are looking for the answer to low achievement. No one has figured it out. I guess I have always been weird, in that I thought it was a good thing to be smart even when I suffered for it at the hands of my classmates. I was raised to have those beliefs.

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Carlotta continues, "Many of the problems that we see today, such as single mothers, deadbeat fathers, and extreme poverty, are not new. They are as old as people. But there was a sense in my day that the fate of black people, poor or not, was collective. Thus, our standards were defined by the best among us, not the worst."(less)

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Sep 30, 2009 Tara Chevrestt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, memoir

It took an incredible amount of courage to be one of those nine children that walked into Little Rock Central High School on that fateful day in 1957. It took even more courage to rehash it all and write a book about it. I barely had the courage to read it all. I grew upset quite often, Carlotta's story brought up memories of my own school years. The name calling, the jeers, being slammed into lockers or kicked, having someone walk behind you stepping on your heels, the teachers that look the ot...more It took an incredible amount of courage to be one of those nine children that walked into Little Rock Central High School on that fateful day in 1957. It took even more courage to rehash it all and write a book about it. I barely had the courage to read it all. I grew upset quite often, Carlotta's story brought up memories of my own school years. The name calling, the jeers, being slammed into lockers or kicked, having someone walk behind you stepping on your heels, the teachers that look the other way, and the students that even if they do not participate in the hateful acts themselves, cannot be seen showing you an ounce of kindness for fear of bringing it on themselves too.

That is where the similiarities end. Carlotta was persercuted simply because of her skin color. I had a handicap. Thankfully, I didn't need 1000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne to get me inside my school. I am shocked and appalled at the ignorance of people back then. Carlotta tells of her desire to get the best education she could and at the time, "white" schools had the better funding, therefore they had the better books, the better equipment, the better opportunity. Carlotta did not realize that her desire for an education would make the news, lead to her home being bombed, and her own father arrested. She tells us about all that and the events leading up to it. She also talks about how sometimes she felt exploited, used even for publicity. Through her eyes, we see the turbulent 1950s and how ignorance ran rampant in Little Rock, Arkansas. In between excerpts about the high school and all the unfortunate dramas surrounding the high school, Carlotta talks about her life, her family, her summer camp, her trip to NYC, and her dreams. She shows us how she struggled to live a normal young girl's life despite her unwanted fame. Something I enjoyed about all this is how her community drew together in rough times to support her and the other students, to drive them to school, give them a meal, or just offer kindness.

As I was reading this tho, I had to set it aside here and there and just get my bearings and calm myself down. I can't believe this happened almost a mere 50 years ago. I think this should be required reading in schools, for all races. And for a good measure, send the book home for the parents to read too. Everybody will learn something from it.

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Aug 29, 2009 Weavre rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Weavre by: Amazon Vine

Shelves: politics-issues-history

Absolutely wonderful!

Carlotta Walls just wanted to get the best education she could. That the best local school happened to be Little Rock's Central High School, that she happened to be black, and that it happened to be 1957 didn't mean she wanted to make history. But, make history she did, as one of the famed Little Rock Nine.

This is Carlotta's story, told in her own words, including everything from the narratives of the generations before her right up to the present day. For a woman who avoide...more

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Feb 27, 2011 Lucy rated it 5 of 5 stars

This book was fascinating. I remember the news of the 9 black students who were the first to integrate Little Rock Central High School but I had never thought about what their experience would have been. Carlotta LaNier first described her growing up, a story which resonated with me despite the facts that my circumstances, as a Northern white girl in private schools, were totally different. I was surprised at the reasons Carlotta wanted to go to the white school. She wasn't trying to start a soc...more

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Nov 07, 2009 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars

One of the Little Rock Nine - the first African American students admitted to Central High School in 1957 under a desegregation order from President Eisenhower - breaks her 50 year silence to return to the dark days that marked the beginning of the Civil Rights movement in the United States.

Although this is an important, heartbreaking, inspiring book, the restrained writing doesn't make for an engaging book. Chapter 1 opens with a pedigree and family history to establish the importance of educat...more

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Sep 07, 2009 Nandi Crawford rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: civil-rights-stories, bios-autos-and-memoirs, empowering-stories, nandi-s-favorites, the-south-and-it-s-things

A childhood should be happy; Going to school, hanging with friends, learning and preparing for adulthood; But sadly for so many, it isn't. One of the best memoirs I have read was by one of the former Little Rock Nine Melba Patillo Beals detailing her life specifically as one of the first of nine young people to integrate Little Rock Arkansas' Central High School in 1957; I kind of wish that the others would do the same, but I can accept that some things you truly want to forget because it is so...more A childhood should be happy; Going to school, hanging with friends, learning and preparing for adulthood; But sadly for so many, it isn't. One of the best memoirs I have read was by one of the former Little Rock Nine Melba Patillo Beals detailing her life specifically as one of the first of nine young people to integrate Little Rock Arkansas' Central High School in 1957; I kind of wish that the others would do the same, but I can accept that some things you truly want to forget because it is so hard. With time, another Little Rock Nine, Carlotta Walls Lanier has come out with her own offering of that time, making it one of the most interesting and riveting reads I have read this year. Born in 1942, in Little Rock, Carlotta spent the first eight grades of school in a segregated setting. Then the Supreme Court decision stating that segregation was unconstitutional brought about the changes. When a letter circulated for black students to go to Central came about, Carlotta signed up since Central was close to where she lived. What she signed up for changed her life in ways she didn't expect. For one, there had to meet with the Superintendent for rules and regulations; they couldn't participate in extra cirriculum activities, attend games, dances, or date anyone there. Basically they went to school and went home. But when they tried to enter the school, they were met with mobs of angry whites, hostility and tension at every hand. It sadly took another court order and the 101 Airborne Division to come there and make sure those nine students went to school; But, it didn't stop the unwelcome attacks these nine students endured. And oh, did they endure some things. dropped books, hits, punches, stuff spilled on clothes, my heart went out completely for these young people. When the school year ended, with Ernest Green graduating(the first Black to do so), the Superintendent then closed down the high schools for the following year causing headache, grief and pain for a lot of people. Carlotta and Jefferson Thomas became the second and third graduates to finish from Central in 1960; some of the others had to leave due to overwhelming pressure. Carlotta's family home was bombed in 1960, and her father was questioned incessantly along with two neighbors who they charged with the crime. Eventually, Carlotta and her family ended up moving away from Little Rock settling eventually in Colorado; She went to college, married and had kids; but for a time, she didn't discuss her role in the Central High School event until a movie about the incident came on tv. Then folks reached out to ask her to talk about it; She was reluctant at first, but in time she did; With time, she and her other eight comrades started their own foundation which helps gives scholarships among other things. She has her own real estate firm in Colorado and I tend to feel that perhaps this book was to put closure to what she has been through. I highly recommend the book. If you can, check out the other books dealing with this incident; Daisy Bates, who helped spearhead the effort and was there for the Nine and helped in the battles they endured has written her own book; Melba Beals Patillo has written one, there is a movie about Ernest Green's life; It is worth a look, and whenever you see someone across from you who is not the same color as you at school, think about those nine brave young people who took a risk to make it happen.(less)

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Jun 08, 2012 Kate Lawrence rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, memoir, social-issues

This memoir makes a powerful statement of the high price often paid by those who try to carry the human race forward to greater fairness and inclusiveness. Not many high school students would have been able to withstand the taunts and overt hostility of their classmates to the degree that Carlotta Walls faced when she was among the first African-American students to integrate a previously all-white Southern school in the 1950's. Furthermore, her account reveals that the time of continual insults...more

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Sep 21, 2009 Melissa Andrews rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: af-american-related, biography-memoir, historical, non-fiction, society-culture

I gave this four stars because the story - the experience of being one of the Little Rock Nice - is awesome. The book itself isn't a great literary work, but that's not what it's meant to be. It's meant to try to give you a glimpse of what it was like to be one of those nine young people who integrated Little Rock Central High School - and it does that wonderfully. It is well written and keeps the flow going.

Carlotta Walls will be going to high school shortly after the Supreme Court decided Brow...more

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Feb 02, 2010 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

As someone who wasn't alive during the civil rights struggles of the 50s and 60s, I really enjoyed reading this book as a way to get a glimpse into the events and emotions of that time. The integration of Central High School was a pivotal event and it was both inspiring and heart-breaking to read the author's story. All the students (and their parents) had tremendous courage and strength to persevere. One thing that stuck out for me was how the experiences of those traumatic years had a huge imp...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Gina rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm on a roll these last few years with civil rights books. And every time I read one, it's just almost impossible to believe how awful things were in our very own country a mere fifty years ago. People behaved in despicable, horrifying ways. It is terrible to consider. And important to consider, too. I'm glad Carlotta gutted out her time at Central High School despite incessant threats, humiliation, and loneliness. I'm glad she didn't get killed. I'm glad she and the other Little Rock Nine have...more

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Oct 05, 2009 AuthorsOnTourLive! rated it 5 of 5 stars

We met Carlotta Walls LaNier when she visited the Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. You can listen to her talk about A Mighty Long Way
About this podcast:
When fourteen-year-old Carlotta Walls walked up the stairs of Little Rock Central High School on September 25, 1957, she and eight other black students only wanted to make it to class. But the journey of the "Little Rock Nine," as they came to be known, would lead the nation on an even longer and much more turbulent path, one that would challe...more

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Aug 05, 2009 Barb Terpstra rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was about the Little Rock 9, and the racial upheaval that took place during the desegregation of Central High. I am sad to confess my ignorance of history. I was not aware that the school was closed for a whole school year to both black and white students. This first person account was factual and interesting. The hurt to the heart is expressed in this sentiment: "Some days I was so mentally exhausted that I didn't have the energy to guard my heart. In those low moments, when the troub...more

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Oct 08, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an excellent civil–rights themed memoir, written by one of the Little Rock Nine who lives right here in the Denver area. Carlotta faced unthinkable circumstances as a young girl integrating a southern high school, but she writes that she always saw herself as trying to get the best education possible and not as an activist or pioneer. I was most touched by how, in the midst of angry mobs at the school gates and tortuous classmates in the hallways, she still worried about the simple every...more

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May 02, 2013 Mikey B. rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a very riveting story of this young girl’s attendance at an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The abuse she experienced during her first year was horrible. The school actually closed after her first year - a belated victory for the white segregationists. She managed to complete her high school diploma after the school was re-opened.

This is the same school that President Eisenhower was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to allow nine African American students to attend. Th...more This is a very riveting story of this young girl’s attendance at an all-white high school in Little Rock, Arkansas. The abuse she experienced during her first year was horrible. The school actually closed after her first year - a belated victory for the white segregationists. She managed to complete her high school diploma after the school was re-opened.

This is the same school that President Eisenhower was forced to send in the 101st Airborne to allow nine African American students to attend. The author was one of those nine. The troops were successful in preventing adults from stopping the students from attending. One does wonder who these adults were who were so filled with hatred? The troops were less successful in preventing the nine students from undergoing constant abuse from their white student peers in the high school, which they withstood with admirable tolerance. In a sense both the troops and the nine students were out-numbered by the trouble-makers.

The psychological toll this brought on these nine students is well depicted in the book. The author was not able to communicate her anguish to her parents. Her parents’ house was actually bombed; but instead of targeting the local white racists, the police arrested some of her African American neighbours! They were convicted by a ‘kangaroo’ court.

The guilt the author has for causing her parents and neighbours these burdens has extended over her entire life. Both she and her parents moved out of Little Rock shortly after her graduation. Truly they are victims of racial hate which was carried on not only by ignorant students and individuals but also condoned and encouraged by the local state government.

The book also demonstrates how disconnected the South was from the rest of the country. During the summer after the first year the “Little Rock Nine” were feted in cities across the North by white and black groups alike; but back in Little Rock they were pariahs and despised as agitators and trouble-makers. It is a sad reflection of the Eisenhower era that this is one of the few things he initiated for civil rights.

At least today they have the honour of being welcomed by Governor Clinton to their old high school in Little Rock – during the time when he was Governor of Arkansas. There is also a beautiful statue of the nine of them outside of the state government. So at least here is recompense from the government of the grave mistakes made when they were just young students trying to get an education. A very fine and captivating book.
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Feb 04, 2012 Nicole R rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: civil-rights, american-history, memoir-biography, must-read, 2012

This was such a wonderful book! And add it to the very short list of books that have made me cry.

This is the 2nd book I've read that was written by someone who attended Little Rock Central High- the other one was Warriors Don't Cry.

Her reason for going to Central High was because she wanted to go to one of the top high schools in the country, and not because of the history it would make. It was clear throughout the whole book that education was important to her and her family. Some of the event...more

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Apr 04, 2011 George rated it 5 of 5 stars

POWERFUL. POIGNANT. INSPIRING.

To a cocksure, cavalier, albeit grossly naïve, sixteen year old white boy in London, Kentucky/New Haven, Connecticut, 1957—a year of 15¢ McDonalds’ hamburgers and 10¢ french-fries; of newly-born rock-’n-roll, transistor radios and 45 rpm records; of Johnny Cash and Ferlin Husky; of Bill Haley, Carl Perkins and Elvis Presley—was quite possibly the best year in the history of forever. To a fourteen year old black girl in Little Rock, Arkansas, however, it was quite pr...more

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Nov 05, 2009 Kari rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: bios-and-memoirs

After hearing a half-hour segment of NPR's Talk of the Nation (the radio show that gets me through the work week!) featuring Carlotta Walls LaNier of the Little Rock Nine, I was inspired to pick up her memoir at the library—A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.

As a bit of a history lesson, the Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional in the 1954 case of Brown vs. Board of Education. When the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, was forced to integrate...more After hearing a half-hour segment of NPR's Talk of the Nation (the radio show that gets me through the work week!) featuring Carlotta Walls LaNier of the Little Rock Nine, I was inspired to pick up her memoir at the library—A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School.

As a bit of a history lesson, the Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional in the 1954 case of Brown vs. Board of Education. When the city of Little Rock, Arkansas, was forced to integrate in 1957, Carlotta was the youngest of nine African-American students—known as the Little Rock Nine—that enrolled in the all-white Central High School. The ensuing crisis that eventually led to intervention by President Eisenhower and the 101st Airborne can be considered one of the most important events in the Civil Rights Movement.

U.S. History 101 tells you the story of the Little Rock Nine, but LaNier's memoir gives a perspective rarely seen. When an event becomes such a defining point of the historical record and when it seems so far in the past that it is hard to relate to, these events seem to just stick on the page of a history book. They don't come alive. We forget that real people went through this, that real emotions were felt and that people's lives were immediately affected by the stories we hear and read. LaNier details the day-to-day excitement, anxiety, and fear that defined her three years at Central. We see her mind develop as she processes the events surrounding her. We get a glimpse into the ordinary life of someone who turned out to be such an extraordinary icon in American history. We get a personal account of a story that is usually told in such an impersonal manner.

Sometimes in a memoir, the author will ramble on about day-to-day events that seem so inconsequential. And for most people, they are. They're boring and have no relevance to anything. But in this book, the mundane is important, because it just builds up the tension of the whole story. Not once did I think that LaNier was rambling. Nor would I criticize her for being self-promoting as many memoir authors in her position are. Instead, I am glad to have gotten a glimpse into an event that otherwise seems so distant.(less)

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Sep 09, 2011 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is a memoir by one of the Little Rock 9, Carlotta Walls, one of the nine who had kept her story to herself for decades. Her narrative provides a sad but honest look at the mechanism of Jim Crow in the 1950s and '60s, and of how racists battled to hang on to their 'Southern way of life.' One cannot come away from this book without admiring the courage and determination of the young Carlotta---what an inspiration she can be for today's teenagers.

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Oct 11, 2011 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I attended LRCH thirty years after integration. Walls story is powerful and I learned so much more than I expected. She really gave a sense for what it was like to be her during the time of upheaval. The after effects were also profound. Through it all, it is clear she is such a positive person, who sees the best in everyone. I highly recommend this book especially to everyone who attended LRCH.

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Jun 03, 2010 Heather Olson Beal rated it 5 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed reading this book and learning more about everything these brave teenagers went through just to be able to go to a public high school. We went to Little Rock over spring break in March and saw Central High School (an amazing building--not like your typical HS at all) and went to the visitors' center across the street.

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Nov 09, 2011 Marcie rated it 2 of 5 stars

To be honest, I only read two chapters of this book. For whatever reason, it was kind of hard for me to get into. Maybe it's because I was kind of forcing myself to read it, which makes reading less fun. I did, however, go hear the author speak (which was why I'd started reading the book in the first place), and I really appreciated her message.

Mrs. LaNier, the other members of the Little Rock Nine, and their family, neighbors, and friends, went through a lot to help make a difference in the wor...more

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Nov 22, 2009 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, memoir, non-fiction

I had read Warriors Don't Cry by Melba Patillo Beals a few years ago, so it was interesting to get another perspective. This should be required reading at the high school level. Have people forgotten how hard people fought (and with such dignity) for civil rights for people of color?

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Mar 15, 2010 Eileen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really liked the very personal approach the author took. I know all about the politics of the times but Carlotta Walls Lanier transcended the politics to bring us a story with much more meaning. She is one very courageous lady!

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Aug 28, 2011 Donna Kubiak rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another book that exemplifies courage....Carlotta was one of those brave kids who endured a horrible year at Little Rock Central HS. I couldn't believe how children could be abused by other students and their parents.

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Jan 04, 2010 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

I saw the author speak and was very intrigued by this story. A very detailed and informative account of how she came to be and cope with being one of the "Little Rock Nine". Great and intriguing story.

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Nov 14, 2009 Valerie Davia rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very moving book. President Clinton summed it up in his introduction: "A Might Long Way will make you ashamed and proud, angry and hopeful, heartsick and happy. Carlotta tells it as it was, a story we all need to know."

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Apr 25, 2012 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best books I've ever read. I then had the privilege to meet the author. It is a hopeful and painful book about places near and dear to my heart, Little Rock and Little Rock Central High School. Ms. LaNier shows us the good and the bad of being one of the nine students to integrate LRCH. Her story is so reflective of her as a person brutally honest but not overly sentimental. This book helped me to understand why so many African-Americans left the south when they were able to....more

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title link	preview: A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School
avg rating	preview: A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School Goodreads rating: 3.96 (168 ratings)
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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6389421-a-mighty-long-way?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320484553l/6389421.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6389421-a-mighty-long-way?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School by Carlotta Walls LaNier[/url]

A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School

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