Darkness Before Dawn (Hazelwood High Trilogy) [Hardcover]

Sharon M. Draper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2001 | Series: Hazelwood High Trilogy

He's a "lemon drop wrapped in licorice": tall, dark, handsome, and as smooth as his silk shirts and leather jacket. He can discuss everything from art to world events, he's traveled the world, and he owns a Jeep, a condo, and a jazz CD collection. But best of all, twenty-three-year-old Jonathan Hathaway, the new track coach and the principal's son, has his golden eyes set on Keisha Montgomery.

In her senior year of high school, still recovering from the suicide of her ex-boyfriend, Keisha's thrilled to have someone treat her like a woman rather than a girl. As Jonathan tells her, she's a butterfly ready to try her wings -- much too mature for high school boys, whose only deep thoughts are words from rap songs. Jonathan makes her feel alive again; he seems like the answer to all her dreams and the cure to all her nightmares.

Gifts wrapped with silver ribbons begin to mysteriously appear on her doorstep, and Keisha is swept off her feet. But events take a terrifying turn, and suddenly darkness overwhelms her life.... As Keisha struggles to put her world back in perspective, she learns the power and the danger of silence, and discovers the secret gifts that had been waiting for her all along.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Keisha's senior year of high school is quite an ordeal. Her ex-boyfriend has recently committed suicide; a good friend was killed in a car crash; and she is attracted to the new track coach, the principal's college-aged son. When he begins to make advances, Keisha decides that she is mature enough to date this older man. Jonathan, however, turns out to be more than a smooth talker, and attempts to rape her after a romantic date. Readers may be overwhelmed by the soap-opera feel of this issue-laden world of suicide, anorexia, teen models, divorced or dead parents, homelessness, car accidents, and girl power. There's even a romance that Keisha doesn't see coming, but readers will. Although never didactic or preachy, the issues are there to teach a lesson. While slightly unrealistic, the book still may appeal to readers who love page-turners, as Draper has given her characters life by developing relationships and using believable teen-speak.-Angela J. Reynolds, Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Aloha, OR

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 8-12. It's been a hard summer for Keisha Montgomery. She is still recovering from the recent suicide of her ex-boyfriend, Andy, though she finds comfort in her tight circle of good friends and supportive family. Then handsome new track coach (and the principal's son) Jonathan Hardaway notices Keisha and sweeps her off her feet with his smooth manner. When a dinner date with Jonathan turns into attempted rape, Keisha successfully fights him off, but the incident leaves her depressed and shaken. This third title in Draper's books about Hazelwood High will draw readers anxious to follow the personable characters from Tears of a Tiger (1994) and Forged by Fire (1997). However, the teen phone conversations, so well handled in those titles, become awkward here when used to relate plot developments, and the frequently didactic tone of the characters is contrived. What's more, so many problem issues are raised--date rape, anorexia, depression, mental illness, suicide, and grief, to name a few--that the focus blurs. Yet 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. Debbie Carton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers; 1 edition (February 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689830807
• ISBN-13: 978-0689830808
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (41 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,600,677 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sharon Draper is a two-time Coretta Scott King Award-winning author, most recently for Copper Sun, and previously for Forged by Fire. She's also the recipient of the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Author Award for New Talent for Tears of a Tiger and the Coretta Scott King Author Honor for The Battle of Jericho and November Blues. Her other books include Romiette and Julio, Darkness Before Dawn, and Double Dutch. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, where she taught high school English for twenty-five years. She's a popular conference speaker, addressing educational and literary groups both nationally and internationally.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mallory, December 10, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Darkness Before Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

Keisha is the senior class president of her high school. She had been going through some really difficult times the past year when her ex-boyfriend unexpectedly kills himself. The principal's 23 year old son is the new trak coach and he has his eye on Keisha. Slowly Keisha begins to find comfort in 23 year old Johnatan. Her parents and friends think there is something strange about Keisha and Johnathans realationship. Keisha is happy and loves the way Johnathan treats her like a women and not a high schooler. So Keisha breaks her parents rules and continues to see him. Suddenly Keisha's relationship with Johnathan takes a turn for the worst. Johnathan takes Keisha to his appartment and when Keisha doesn't coperate with Johnathan's plans that's when the big trouble starts. He tries to rape Keisha and he attempts to kill her with his jack knife.

I highly recommend this book. It may be a little boring in the begining but once your get a little further into it, your hooked. It also has a great moral/lesson to it. Another thing it shows how sexual preditors can be anywhere and it can happen to anyone. I enjoyed reading this book and think its a great book for teenage girls to read.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She saw the darkness before the light, February 26, 2005

By 

Bethiana Zephir - See all my reviews

This review is from: Darkness Before Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

Keisha Montgomery, a senior at Hazelwood High School, has lurked in nothing but darkness since the death of her friend Robby, and boyfriend Andy. It seems like the whole world is crashing down on her and she will be next to be eliminated by the darkness. She can't get over the pain, hurt, and guilt that has subsided her and for a long time she hasn't seen any light, hope, or happiness.
But then, Jonathan Hathaway, a twenty-year-old college student and son of Hazelwood High's principal, enters Keisha's life. Keisha is taken aback by this very handsome, sweet, poetic, and mature man who seems to charm her with every word. At first Keisha pays no mind to this man, thinking he is a mere college student who is too old for her anyway, but John seems truly interested in her. He is unlike the other high school boys-he's mature, writes poetry, and is interested in the same things Keisha is interested in. He looks at her a lot, always stops to speak with her, and is a gentleman to Keisha. Soon she realizes that Jonathan Hathaway is something different, something special, and something she can't afford to waste. Despite her parents' explicit disapproval, Keisha goes out to spend time with Jonathan. Her parents tell her that he is too old, and after the first time it is the last. But Keisha lies to her parents and goes out with him anyway. Keisha's parents truly love her, and she is precious and not quite grown yet although she's eighteen, but Keisha uses her age as an excuse to do whatever she wants. She is blind to what can happen when alone with an older man she doesn't know the truth about.
What adds to the superbness of this book is how Keisha's friends and family all give warning signs about Jonathan. Leon, the boy with the crush on Keisha, doesn't like Jonathan because he's "too nice with younger girls". Jalani, Keisha's newest friend, constantly warns Keisha about Jonathan. Keisha's parents inform her that she's young and vulnerable and Jonathan may not be safe, but Keisha doesn't want to listen to anybody. The constant disapproval by Keisha's peers and family intimates that Jonathan is not what Keisha thinks he is and that soon Keisha will realize her peril.
Once again, Keisha Montgomery plunges into darkness. She falls into a trap and doesn't realize how much danger she's in. She can't believe how stupid she must have been to trust Jonathan Hathaway's seemingly caring personality, which is totally fake and an act to get Keisha into the situations he has placed many young girls. Why does Keisha fall into darkness? Does she ever get out? Does she ever see the light? Find out by reading this exceptional novel, Darkness Before Dawn, by Sharon M. Draper.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Darkness before Dawn, July 3, 2003

By 

Marla (Salvisa, KY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Darkness Before Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

Keisha is a student in high school. Her ex-boyfriend has just committed suicide. She is trying to cope with this tragedy. Her friends are a great help. She really starts to come around when the principals son, Jonathon takes interest in her. She wants to go out with him but he is 21 and she is 18. Her parents are not to keen on the idea of Keisha dating someone three years older than her. They give in when Jonathon takes several students on a ski trip. Afterwards he calls her every night. The Valentine's Dance is coming up and Jonathon has something special planned. Keisha knows her parents will not allow her to go alone with Jonathon so she goes with a friend. Then she pretends she has a headache and he takes her home. Shortly after Jonathon picks her up to take her out to eat. Keisha is expecting a nice restaurant. Where she ends up and what happens next are not what she anticipated. To find out, read the book.

This is the sequel to Tears of a Tiger and Forged by Fire. If you enjoyed these books, then Darkness before Dawn is a must read. This book is recommended for young adolescents due to issues that Keisha deal with.