Forged by Fire [Hardcover]

Sharon M. Draper (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1998 | Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. Teenage Gerald, who has spent years protecting his fragile half-sister from their abusive father, faces the prospect of one final confrontation before the problem can be solved.

--This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Sharon Draper has indeed forged a fiery name for herself in the field of young adult literature--that of a courageous writer, willing to tackle tough, real-life problems while developing honorable, streetwise role models for troubled teens. Her previous novel, Tears of the Tiger, garnered much acclaim and became the first recipient of the Coretta Scott King Genesis Award. In this second novel, Draper weaves in characters from Tears--most significantly Gerald Nickleby, a young basketball player who discovers his innate strength and determination while protecting his stepsister's safety and his mother's honor.

Unfortunately, Draper's strengths (her desire to delve into tough social issues, such as child abuse, drug addiction, incest, bulimia, and domestic violence) become this book's weakness as the story line teeters on implausible. For example, in less than 20 pages Gerald faces the following: the death of a close friend (a passenger in a car that was driven by a drunk teammate); the discovery of his drunk, evil stepfather trying to sexually assault his younger stepsister; a brutal attack by his stepfather; and a raging apartment fire that threatens to kill them all. Nonetheless, Draper creates believable and important heroes for teenage boys--those who are forged from adversity, only to burn more brightly and courageous. (Ages 12 and older) --Gail Hudson --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

This prequel to Draper's Tears of a Tiger is a stark portrayal of a young man struggling to protect his little sister from a drug-addicted mother and an abusive father. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Perfection Learning (January 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0780779134
• ISBN-13: 978-0780779136
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (149 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #404,379 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

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced, which kids & young adults will probably enjoy., September 29, 1999

By 

Michael "majorm1ke" (Washington, DC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Forged By Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

Hi and in advance, thanks for checking out my review. I being a little older than the targeted audience (I'm a 17 y/o {black} male in 11th grade who usually dosen't like to read unless it's for school) recently picked up this book at my local library. The book was not used for a school project but, I got it because I thought it would be interesting.

I will say that I would promote the book for classroom use for probably 6-9th graders. The book deals with very strong issues plauging the present time in a clear, contemporary style. The book is very fast paced.. (lightning fast, actually) which I think kids will like better than reading a full novel (I would) and with this fast-paced movement, it does get a tad confusing at times while dealing with multiple conflicts.

The main problem is that there are so many problems that are thrown out to the main character Gerald, (Who the book deals with through age 3-17) that not not one is comnpletely resolved before another occurs. (I still have a few questions myself after reading) The characters are very believeable but the problems that happen and mostly when they do happen are the things that bring the book down. I would recommend the book to any teen wishing for some good, heartfelt, fast paced reading.

I've seen a review that says the book deals with bulimia along with other issues... actually, it does not. It states that the character Angel throws up a lot but, that's mostly because she's so nervous around her father.

Oh, and if the Author is out there... Hear me out... Ever since reading the end, I would like to see a sequel. I don't know about the rest of you but, I'd pick it up. (No, I haven't had a chance to read "Tears of a Tiger" yet, but I will be soon.)

Thanks for hearing me out.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Stop fast forwarding, please press "slow", June 13, 2006

By 

Shamontiel L. Vaughn "Message from Montie" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Forged By Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

I want to stress that the actual plot of the story and the characters were interesting and I enjoyed their purpose, action, dialogue. But I read a review about this book somewhere that said that too much happened at once in the beginning. I don't take peoples' reviews too seriously until I read the book, but this time around, I wish I would have listened. The author tried to cram FAR too much into one small book of 156 pages. The boy was 3 years old at the beginning and by the time it ended, he was 17. People were on drugs, in jail, out of jail, court cases complete, basketball tryouts, friends made, learned to cook, car accidents, dying, all within a few pages. The whole time I read this story, I felt like the author had written an outline of what should happen in each chapter and instead of fleshing it out and letting it grow progressively, she just rammed it altogether and then threw in stuff that happened in a previous book. I read one book by her and bought them all...and now I'm starting to regret it. I hope the fourth one is better, because I loved the first one about Andy, couldn't get into the "Romiette and Julio" book at all, and now this one is crammed. I'm confused over whether I like this author or not--in the book about Andy, the dialogue was on point and the plot was organized and easy-to-understand. In the "Romiette and Julio" book, the dialogue was out of wack and the story was slow. This book had great dialogue and an interesting plot like the Andy book, but it went entirely too fast. I feel like I'm reading books from several different people instead of one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forged by Fire by Conner Witsken, December 21, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Forged By Fire (Mass Market Paperback)

Forged by Fire by Sharon Draper shows the story of a kid that has to deal with his problems and the problems of people around him. It is about a kid standing up to his abusive stepfather and protecting his family from his abusive stepfather.

When Gerald's mom (Monique) gets sent to prison for drug abuse, Gerald goes to live with his Aunt Queen in Cincinnati. Suddenly, Aunt Queen dies and Gerald has to go live with Monique since she was released from prison. He is now living with his Mom, His sister (Angel), which he didn't even know he had, and his stepfather (Jordan).

Gerald finds out that Jordan is an alcoholic. Every time Jordan got drunk, he would abuse Angel, Gerald, and Monique. Gerald just knew he had to do something about it. Therefore, one day he got the police to arrest Jordan because he was molesting Angel. They were having a good life without Jordan. When Jordan got out of prison he was acting extremely nice, but Gerald knew something was going to happen. The problem is going to be fixed for the last time.

I recommend this book to kids between the ages of 10-15. It shows hatred, sadness, and emotion. The emotion in this book is just incredible.

For anyone who likes adventure and "edge of the seat" books, you will love this book. In addition, you will like it if you have already read one of the "Hazelwood High Series" and liked it.