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Carlotta Walls LaNier

Home Featured Authors & Panelists Featured Participant Lineup 2026 Carlotta Walls LaNier
© Bernard Grant

© Bernard Grant

Carlotta Walls LaNier is a member of the Little Rock Nine. She gained national attention for the role she played in desegregating Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. LaNier received the Congressional Medal of Honor and six honorary degrees, and now speaks at venues across the country. She lives in Denver, Colorado.

 

Schedule

10:30 am to 11:30 am
Iberville Building, Le Francois Room B
Little Books, Big Lives: Picture Book Biographies
Artie Bennett, The Tenth Man: A Miracle of Jewish Faith and Friendship in New Orleans
Carlotta Walls LaNier and Lisa Frazier Page, Carlotta's Special Dress: How a Walk to School Changed Civil Rights History
Frank Murphy, Charnaie Gordon, and  Anastasia Magloire Williams, Heroic Heart: An Illustrated Biography of Joe Delaney
Jason Peterson, Blues with a Butter Knife: The Unstoppable Music of CeDell Davis
with moderator Lauren Landry

11:45 am to 12:15 pm
Children’s Author Tent 1
Carlotta’s Special Dress: How a Walk to School Changed Civil Rights History
Carlotta Walls LaNier and Lisa Frazier Page
(Ages 6 to 8)

12:30 pm to 1:15 pm
Cavalier House Books Tent
Book Signing

Carlotta's Special Dress: How a Walk to School Changed Civil Rights History

Carlotta Walls LaNier, the youngest of the Little Rock Nine, shares the true story about a girl, a dress, and the historic fight to attend an all-white school in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Carlotta can’t wait to wear her new dress on her first day of school. But when the moment finally arrives, she isn’t allowed to go. The year is 1957, and the people of Little Rock, Arkansas, don’t want Black students attending an all-white school and will do whatever it takes to keep them out. 

As hate and danger escalate, will Carlotta and her Black classmates, known as the Little Rock Nine, have the strength and perseverance to keep dreaming of a better world? 

This moving picture book autobiography from a Civil Rights pioneer—with extensive back matter including an author's note, comprehensive timeline, and historical photos—introduces a landmark event in the fight for desegregation and demonstrates the world-changing power children have to enact change through bravery and faith.