Darkness Before Dawn (Mass Market Paperback)

by Sharon M. Draper (Author) "I think homeroom is a stupid waste of time..." (more)
Key Phrases: butterfly necklace, senior prank, silver dress, Jonathan Hathaway, New York, Valentine Dance (more...)

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.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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 --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (July 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689851340
• ISBN-13: 978-0689851346
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #83,414 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mallory, December 10, 2005

A Kid's Review

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.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Christian's Review, January 17, 2006

By	Ninth grader (Blacksburg, Virginia) - See all my reviews

In the book a girl named Keisha has just lost her boyfriend. Andy killed himself because he and his best friends Rob, Tyrone, and B.J were in a car accident. Rob was the only one that didn't make it out of the car and he burned to death. Andy felt that it was his fault so he walked around with all this on his shoulders until he killed himself. Keisha had just broken up with Andy because of all his problems. That summer Keisha took Andy's little brother with her to the cookout. The cookout was something that the high school does every year and the students come and bring their little brothers and sisters. This summer, Keisha saw a guy that she thought was hot, so the summer passed and the new school year came. When she saw him, she acted as if she hadn't noticed him, but she did and she really liked him. At the same time, Leon liked her but she really had not paid any attion to that until one day she gave him a ride home and his dad started to say all this embracing stuff. So the conflict is she has to choose a boy (Leon) or a man (Jonathan).
I chose this book because I read the first book and I liked it, so I just continued to read them. No one recommended it to me but when I first started everyone would say that's a good book. I chose the book because I read the back. I like the author cause she knows how to express her feelings.
I would recommend this book to any one in high school and middle school. This book is really good but at first it is boring but it gets good in the middle I feel as though it gets good and you can relate to the emotion. It was easy to read cause she is just out in the open. She doesn't make things that are simple so confusing. The end was good. I was satisfied with the resolution.

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

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.