CULTURE 2

FORGED BY FIRE

Bibliography
Draper, Sharon M. 1997. FORGED BY FIRE. New York, NY: Simon Pulse. ISBN 068980699X.

Plot Summary

Gerald is a toddler when the story begins. He is left alone in the apartment by his mother, and while she is gone the young Gerald finds a cigarette lighter and starts the apartment on fire. He is saved by a teenage neighbor. His mother is sent off to jail for abandonment and Gerald goes to live with Aunt Queen. Aunt Queen is a loving and nurturing woman and at the same time she is a force to be reckoned with. Under her care and guidance Gerald is living a happy and secure life, with only occasional flashbacks. His happy life comes crashing down around him on his ninth birthday. On this day his mother, Monique, comes back into his life. She is coming to see him and is bringing a surprise. She has a daughter, who is Gerald’s half sister. This meeting is very stressful especially since she brings her husband Jordon Sparks with her. Gerald instantly bonds with his fragile little sister, but the day goes from bad to worse. While Gerald and his little sister are outside playing Aunt Queen has a heart attack and dies. Monique and Jordan take Gerald back to live with them. Jordon is very abusive to all of them and Monique lives in complete denial. The story goes on to tell about how Gerald goes on to struggle and survive and actually come out on top in the end against all odds.

Critical Analysis

This well written story show’s the difficult struggle that many children of all cultures and races can face. Physical, emotional and sexual abuse is present in all cultures. The story is written through the eyes of a young African-American male. The characters are authentic and believable. The plot of the story is gripping because the characters are so well defined and believable. The character of Aunt Queen is very well defined. She could be found in any culture. The take charge woman with a heart of gold. The author is well aware of many stereo types and often addresses them in the dialog. In the following excerpt Aunt Queen is having a discussion with Gerald’s doctor after the first fire. The doctor says “Are you his only relative? Does he have a father?” Aunt Queen replies: “Of course he has a father!” “Don’t you have a father? I know you doctors are getting pretty good at making test-tube babies, but the last I checked, it still took a mother and a father to make a baby” “What I meant was---“ “I know what you meant. Since this kid is poor and black and his mother is living alone and unmarried, his father must be long gone. Well, I’m here to tell you that not all black men are like that. There’s zillions of black families with a mama and a daddy and two kids like the ‘average’ American family.” “But unfortunately, this ain’t one of them. I don’t know where the boy’s daddy is. I just didn’t want you to assume. You coulda been wrong, you know?” The reader at once feels that if Aunt Queen is going to be in charge that all will be right with the world. Unfortunately Aunt Queen dies. We definitely see how Aunt Queen influenced Gerald throughout the story. The same way that Aunt Queen saved Gerald, we see Gerald save Angel. The language flows naturally, and when the teens talk to each other they sound like typical teens. The author does a good job of accurately portraying the type of life that an inner-city child might have. We see the good the bad and the ugly. We see some very good heroes in this story. Even though life is not easy for them they continue to persevere and come out strong and courageous. The ending leaves the readers with a feeling of hopefulness at the end. I wouldn’t call it a happy ending, but it had a good ending that leaves the readers to believe that even though bad things happen, people can go on and live productive lives.


Book Excerpts

School Library Journal(March 1, 1997; 0-689-80699-X; 978-0-689-80699-5)Gr 7-10¿Gerald, a battered and neglected African-American child, is severely burned in a fire at the age of three, having been left home alone by his single mother, Monique. Upon leaving the hospital he goes to live with his warm and caring Aunt Queen. When he is nine, his mother reenters his life for the first time since the accident. Monique introduces him to Angel, his four-year-old half-sister, and Jordan Sparks, Angel's surly father. When Aunt Queen dies suddenly of a heart attack, Gerald is returned to his mother and takes on the role of loving protector of his little sister. He soon learns that Sparks, who mentally and physically abuses all of the family, is sexually abusing Angel. Gerald and Angel's testimony helps send Sparks to prison, but upon his release six years later, he returns to the family, with the blessing of Monique, whose own life is checkered with bouts of substance abuse. A terse confrontation erupts into a fiery climax when Sparks again attempts to molest Angel. The riveting first chapter was originally published as a short story in Ebony magazine under the title "One Small Touch." While the rest of the book does not sustain the mood and pace of the initial chapter, Forged by Fire is a grim look at an inner-city home where abuse and addiction are a way of life and the children are the victims. There's no all's-well ending, but readers will have hope for Gerald and Angel, who have survived a number of gut-wrenching ordeals by relying on their constant love and caring for one another.¿Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI


Booklist(February 15, 1997; 0-689-80699-X; 978-0-689-80699-5)Gr. 7^-10. Gerald Nickelby, a minor character in Tears of a Tiger (1994), emerges full-fledged and courageous in this companion story. His stable life with a firm but loving aunt (who is caring for him while his mother serves a prison sentence for child neglect) is shattered when his mother returns to claim him on his ninth birthday. With her is a young daughter, Angel, to whom Gerald is drawn, and her husband, Jordan, whom Gerald instinctively dislikes. When Gerald learns that Jordan is sexually abusing Angel, he risks physical assault and public embarrassment to rescue her. Although written in a more conventional form than the earlier novel, the dialogue is still convincing, and the affection between Angel and Gerald rings true. With so much tragedy here (the car crash and death of Gerald's friend Rob in Tears are again recounted, though Draper, thankfully, stops before Andy Jackson's suicide), there is some danger of overloading the reader. Nevertheless, Draper faces some big issues (abuse, death, drugs) and provides concrete options and a positive African American role model in Gerald. --Candace Smith


Connections

Students can research abuse and neglect- The National Child Abuse Hotline is given at the end of the book
Students can read these other books by the author Sharon M. Draper:
TEARS OF A TIGER
DARKNESS BEFORE DAWN
ROMIETTE AND JULIO