The Lions of Little Rock, Kristin Levine
The Lions of Little Rock, Kristin Levine
7 Rating(s)
List: $18.00 | Sale: $12.60
Club: $9.00

The Lions of Little Rock

Author: Kristin Levine

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Unabridged: 8 hr 22 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/10/2012


Synopsis

Everything’s changing for twelve-year-old Marlee. Her brother’s gone off to college and her sister’s moved out of the room they’ve shared since Marlee was born. To Marlee, it feels like her whole world’s falling apart.
     On top of all that, she’s starting middle school and has to break in new teachers—teachers who don’t yet know Marlee doesn’t talk. At least not until she meets Liz, the new girl at school. Liz is she’s brave, brash and always knows the right thing to say, especially to the resident mean girl, Sally. Liz even helps Marlee overcome her fear of speaking. But when Liz leaves school without even a good-bye, the rumor is that Liz was really a colored girl caught passing for white. Marlee decides that doesn’t matter. She just wants her friend back. And to stay friends, Marlee and Liz are even willing to take on segregation and the dangers their friendship could bring to both their families.

About The Author

Kristin Levine received her BA in German from Swarthmore College and an MFA in film and electronic media from American University. She spent a year in Vienna, Austria, working as an au pair and has taught screenwriting at American University. You can visit Kristin Levine at www.kristinlevine.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jennifer on August 03, 2015

Required Summer Reading = Unhappy Tween Boy My poor boy. Apparently, the school is ruining his summer! Did you know they are intentionally STEALING his vacation time away from him?? Oh, the drama... Post-meltdown, I went in my closet and had a little laugh, composed myself, and then sat down and made......more

Goodreads review by Cathy on August 03, 2012

This is a really powerful piece of historical fiction based on some real events. The year is 1958, the setting is Little Rock, Arkansas. The public high schools are shut down to prevent further integration and the conflicts that ensued. The main character, Marlee, and her friend Liz are the kind of......more

Goodreads review by Cassi aka Snow White on April 16, 2012

Normally I go to the library with a plan. However sometimes, when I'm doing a lot of driving for work, I just dash in and grab a book quickly. Normally I have pretty low expectations for these books. Something has caught my eye, the description or the cover-art, but I have no idea what to expect. The......more

Goodreads review by Kady on April 23, 2012

The Teaser: Marlee is nearly 13 years old and that means it is high time for her to get over her fear of... well, fear of almost everything, actually. A quiet girl, who greatly prefers math and numbers to words and people, Marlee lives her life categorizing people as what type of drink they'd be and......more

Goodreads review by Barb on September 20, 2012

This novel is like an exploding bottle of Mountain Dew that showers everyone with emotion, fear, friendship, and hope. Thirteen-year-old Marlee chooses not to talk out loud. She'll confide with her sister and talk with her family or Sally, her friend from kindergarten, but it is not much. She's no c......more


Quotes

"Creating a book that reads as though written in one effortless breath requires a rare talent . . Readers will root for a painfully shy girl to discover the depths of her own courage and find hope in the notion that even in tumultuous times, standing up for the people you love can’t be wrong. Satisfying, gratifying, touching, weighty—this authentic piece of work has got soul."—The New York Times Book Review

“Kristin Levine’s The Lions of Little Rock, the story of a black girl and a white girl who become friends during the integration of that city’s schools in 1958, has been awarded the New-York Historical Society’s first children’s history book prize.”—New-York Historical Society Children’s History Book Prize Award

“A story of friendship between two girls in the civil-rights-era South.”—The New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice Award

* “The remarkable story of the Little Rock Nine is familiar to many, but what happened next? In this quietly powerful page-turner, Levine focuses her attention on the events that unfolded in Little Rock the year after the integration of the city’s public schools.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* “With remarkable depth and clarity, Levine unflinchingly portrays racial tension in the 1950s Deep South. Reader will be moved by Marlee and Liz’s strong bonds and inspired by Marlee’s unwavering tenacity in the face of what seems like insurmountable adversity.”—School Library Journal, starred review

* “Successfully weaving historical events with a dynamic personal narrative, Levine (The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had) offers a riveting, frequently tense portrait of 1958 Little Rock, Ark., the tumultuous year when the governor refused integration by closing local high schools.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review