May 20, 2013 There are a lot of middle-grade novels about the
civil rights movement, but The Lions of Little Rock by Kristin
Levine is one of the best and most complex I’ve read. The story
is set in Arkansas in 1958, the year after the Little Rock Nine
became the first African American students to integrate the
city’s public schools. Marlee, age 13, hasn’t really given much
thought to integration. All of the students in her school are
white, like her, so it’s not something she’s really had to think
about. She’s got more immediate concerns—like the fact that she
has no close friends because she’s too shy to speak up or reach
out to anyone. All of that changes when she meets Liz, the new
girl in her class who is bold and smart and somehow makes Marlee
feel braver. After Liz reaches out to her, Marlee learns what
it’s like to have a real friend—someone who understands her,
speaks honestly to her, and gives her the courage to speak up.
Until the day Liz disappears. What Marlee hears is that Liz is
actually a “col