Fire from the Rock (review)

1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a traumatic time and place for Sylvia Patterson and her family. Racism inflects many aspects of their daily lives, erupting in pain and violence when a dog trained to attack blacks bites her little sister, and when her brother is beaten and thrown onto their porch for refusing to quietly accept harassment from a bunch of thugs. Sylvia's biggest challenge, however, is that she has been chosen to be on the list of students who will integrate Central High in the fall. Her friends and family give her mixed signals; her brother wishes he were on the list, but he is too hotheaded; her little sister can't understand why she would even want to go to school with whites; her father and mother are both scared and proud; her friend Lou Ann accuses her of being uppity; and her boyfriend fears losing her. Sylvia must decide for herself whether she will step forward and change the world, even if it means being constantly challenged and belittled, or stay in a place where she will be affirmed so that she can become a strong, proud woman who works for peace and justice as an adult. Alternating with third-person narration of events, Sylvia's journal entries and poems reveal her to be remarkably yet credibly articulate and self-possessed for an eighth-grader, demonstrating why she was chosen to represent the best and brightest of her class but also demonstrating her sensitivity to and awareness of the implications of her decision. Ultimately, Draper paints a believable and compelling picture of warm, supportive family life amid the violent conflicts of the times.