Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon Draper

Year Published: 2001
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN:0689851340
Pages: 276
Price: $11.26
Classification:Fiction
Genre: Suspense, Drama, Romance
Interest Level: 7-12
Reading Level: 4
Rating: 4 Stars
Subjects: Rape, High Schools, African American

Reader's Annotation: Handsome, mature, smart, fit and he is attracted to me. He seems like a sincere guy. Perhaps one date will not hurt.


Summary: This is the third book of trilogy. Keisha Montgomery has a lot of things going on in her senior year while coping with her ex-boyfriend’s death. She is the class president and a track athelete of Hazelwood High. She gets really close to the new tract coach, Jonathan. She develops a serious relationship with him even if he is older and the principal’s son. She soon discovers herself entrapped in this handsome man’s dark motives.

Evaluation: This is a fast-paced romantic book that teens will enjoy reading and can also learn valuable lessons about date rape. The attempted rape scene can be graphic and disturbing for some teen readers.

"The graduation scene, in which class president Keisha gives the closing speech, is moving and triumphant, showing Draper and her vibrant characters at their best." Booklist (January 1, 2001 (Vol. 97, No. 9))

Awards: ALA Booklist, ALA/YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, IRA Young Adults' Award, School Library Journal, Voice of Youth Advocates

Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper

Year Published: 1997
Publisher: Antheneum Books for Young Readers
ISBN: 978069806995
Pages: 151
Price: $17.26 (Library Bound)
Classification: Fiction
Genre: Drama
Interest Level: 9-12
Reading Level: 5
Subjects: Child abuse, stepfamilies, siblings, African Americans

Reader's Annotation: Should you turn-in your parents to save yourself from the abuse? How will you protect your little sister from sexual abuse from your step-father? Will you risk your life for it?

Summary: This is the second book of the trilogy opens on a terrifying scene of child’s physical abuse in a grocery store, which sets the mood and stage of book. Sixteen-year-old Gerald Nickelby learns that her younger half sister, Angel, is being sexually abused by his step-father, Jordan. He learns to fight through physical abuse and finds courage to save his sister and himself. This book takes you to an emotional experience but triumphant ending. This touches many different tough issues that teens deal with. Some of these issues include abuse, suicide, and drugs. This book can be a great tool to open some discussions for teen issues that they face today.

Awards: ALA Best Book For Young Adults, ALA Booklist, ALA/YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Coretta Scott King Award, Voice of Youth Advocates, Wilson's Junior High Catalog

Author Information: Sharon M. Draper was born in Ohio August 21, 1948. She earned a B.A. from Pepperdine University and a M.A. from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Ms. Draper taught junior high and high school students for more than thirty years. She is a public speaker who addresses educational and literary groups of all ages, both nationally and internationally.
Ms. Draper was awarded the Coretta Scott King Award in 1998 for Forged By Fire and in 2007 for Copper Sun. She received the Coretta Scott King Author Honor in 2004 for Battle Of Jericho and in 2008 for November Blues.
The author and her husband reside in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Website: sharondraper.com