The Lions of Little Rock

    The Lions of Little Rock, by Kristin Levine, is about a

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twelve year old girl named Marlee, who lives in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 1958. She's a quiet girl who loves math, but hates to speak her mind. Sometimes, when she is having a hard time speaking she will count the prime numbers in her head and it helps her talk. In Little Rock, in 1958, the schools are segregated. High schools in Little Rock have closed because people have been caught "passing for white",which is when you are actually African American, but you pretend that you're white. Her older sister Judy is in high school so now she can't go to school. She says that Marlee needs to find a friend that enjoys the same things she does, then maybe that will help with her quietness. She does find a friend, they have so much fun together, and Marlee can speak more confidently now when she is talking to people. Things are going great, until everything changes. People find out that Marlee's friend, Liz, has been passing for white, but she is actually African American. Now Liz can't go to school, and her family's in danger. Every little bit of confidence Marlee has gained is now gone. Marlee and Liz meet at different places so that they can still be friends, and still talk with each other. One day Marlee and Liz were meeting at an abandoned quarry, that Marlee and Judy call "The Rock Crusher". Marlee had gotten there after Liz, and a boy from her school, named JT, and his brother had followed her there without her realizing. Red (JT's brother) found an old box of dynamite on the ground. He took it with him and threatened to blow up Liz's house. When Marlee got home she told her parents all about the dynamite, they called the police, but the police did not have any evidence so they couldn't do anything about it. Marlee gets stuck in the back of Red's car while trying to get out the rest of the dynamite. She breaks her letter opener trying to get out, but ends up breaking the lock and getting out. Red still has a couple of dynamite and ends up throwing them through the window of the house that some people, including Marlee, Liz, and their families, were having a meeting in. Marlee had seen Red's car so everyone got out of the house in time, but the house needed some fixing up.  She and Liz get banned from seeing each other again for their own safety. In the end, the high schools reopen and everything goes back to normal.

One of the main themes that I found in this book is important to be brave and speak up for yourself. An example that I have for this theme is when Marlee has just found out that Liz was passing for white. They were going to do a presentation together, but now that Liz is gone, everyone assumes that Marlee doesn't want to do the presentation. "'Yes Marlee?' 'I want to do the presentation.' My voice shook, but the words were clear" (64). My second example is when Marlee finally speaks up for herself against her mom. "'JT's been making me do his homework for him all year, and when I finally told him no because it was cheating, you made me do it again'" (194). My third and last example, is when Marlee and her parents go to JT's house to accuse Red of blowing up the house. Normally under this pressure Marlee wouldn't want to say anything, but she has gotten better at speaking up. "'Though he did recently have the lock broken off. Had to get a new one installed. I don't suppose your daughter would know anything about that?' I counted 2, 3, 5 and said 'Yes, I do'"(275). These are three examples of why you should be brave and speak up for yourself.

I would definitely recommend this book to other 7th grade readers. I think that Marlee's story is sad, but great and inspiring. This book may look long, but I couldn't stop reading it. What I liked about this book is how Marlee and Liz never gave up trying to stop segregation, and how they never gave up on each other. These are some really cool things about this book and why I would absolutely encourage other 7th graders to read it.

Some other books that Kristin Levine has written are The Paper Cowboy and The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had. Kristin Levine got the New-York Historical Society Children's History Book prize, and the New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice award on The Lions of Little Rock. Because of how much I liked the book I would love to read Kristin Levine's other books.