Warriors Don't Cry: A Searing Memoir of the Battle to Integrate Little Rock's Central High

Author: Melba Patillo Beals

Why you should read this book: The author was one of nine black teenagers who braved the opposition of the governor, the Arkansas National Guard, and a town full of hateful racists to integrate one of the best high schools in the state. With little protection or support, these students lived through an entire year of brutal physical and emotional violence, death threats, and psychological warfare against them and their families. The level of aggression through which they suffered, silently, taking Ghandi as their model, is incredible, both in terms of the depths to which their attackers would sink, but also the heights to which these brave students soared spiritualy in overcoming adversity.

Why you shouldn't read this book: You're a hateful racist.