Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Forged by Fire
    Forged by Fire
    Forged by Fire
    Ebook141 pages2 hours

    Forged by Fire

    By Sharon M. Draper

    4/5

    ()

    Switch to audiobook
    Read preview

    About this ebook

    The flame of love burns bright in the second book of Sharon M. Draper’s award-winning Hazelwood High trilogy.

    When Gerald was a child he was fascinated by fire. But fire is dangerous and powerful, and tragedy strikes. His substance-addicted mother is taken from him. Then he loses the loving generosity of a favorite aunt, and a brutal stepfather with a flaming temper and an evil secret makes his life miserable. The one bright light in Gerald's life is his little half sister, Angel, whom he struggles to protect from her father, who is abusing her.

    Somehow Gerald manages to finds success as a member of the Hazelwood Tigers basketball team, and Angel develops her talents as a dancer, despite the trouble that still haunts them. And Gerald learns, painfully, that young friends can die and old enemies must be faced. In the end he must stand up to his stepfather alone in a blazing confrontation.

    In this second book of the Hazelwood High trilogy, Sharon M. Draper has woven characters and events from Tears of a Tiger in an unflinchingly realistic portrayal of poverty and child abuse. It is an inspiring story of a young man who rises above the tragic circumstances of his life by drawing on the love and strength of family and friends.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherAtheneum Books for Young Readers
    Release dateApr 5, 2011
    ISBN9781439132067
    Author

    Sharon M. Draper

    Sharon M. Draper is a three-time New York Times bestselling author for Out of My Mind, Blended, and Out of My Heart. She’s also won Coretta Scott King Awards for Copper Sun and Forged by Fire and multiple honors. She’s also the recipient of the Margaret A. Edwards Award honoring her significant and lasting contribution to writing for teens. Sharon taught high school English for twenty-five years and was named National Teacher of the Year. She now lives in Florida. Visit her at SharonDraper.com.

    Read more from Sharon M. Draper

    Related to Forged by Fire

    Titles in the series (3)

    View More
    View More

    Related ebooks

    Young Adult For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Clarity

      Feb 1, 2019

      Clarity
      6 min read

    • Article

      Broken Wings

      Aug 24, 2020

      Whenever Gemma Faber came to London for work, she stayed at Searle’s. It was a luxurious club-type hotel and every time she visited, she felt she’d really made it. The taxi pulled up and her heart lifted at the sight of the lilac-and-gold striped awn

      5 min read

    • Article

      Night Flying

      Aug 2, 2018

      Night Flying
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dead Woman

      Jun 5, 2023

      At first it seems like nothing. Headaches. Slight loss of appetite. An overall weariness Emma tries to ignore as she goes to work, yoga, Whole Foods. She’s forty-two and has always taken good care of her body. She stretches daily. Avoids fried foods

      24 min read

    • Article

      Cricket League

      Jan 1, 2022

      It was an unusual birthday. Colorful banners blanketed the backyard. Kids chased each other through the grass. Adults talked. It all went downhill from there. My little sister was turning five. On her birthday cake, painted in frosting, was a fat, pi

      7 min read

    • Article

      Stump Of The World

      Dec 5, 2023

      At the stop sign before the library, Emma saw Gallo painting his yellow line as he had painted it for thirty years. The line highlighted a ten-foot-long crack in the road, a rogue speed bump that, unpainted, might do some damage to your car or your n

      18 min read

    • Article

      Telltale SIGNS

      Oct 18, 2023

      Telltale SIGNS
      8 min read

    • Article

      Drawn to THE MOORS

      Feb 8, 2022

      Drawn to THE MOORS
      11 min read

    • Article

      Rip Her To Shreds

      Feb 1, 2018

      Rip Her To Shreds
      11 min read

    • Article

      Valentine’s Ghost

      Jun 20, 2020

      Valentine’s Ghost
      7 min read

    • Article

      Showtime

      Dec 9, 2020

      Showtime
      9 min read

    • Article

      Left To Lose

      Jul 10, 2022

      Around the time she gives up her name, it starts to feel like this entire revolution isn’t worth it anymore. The world is probably lucky that Kelian—she still remembers Kelian, in spite of everything—is there to pick up the pieces, the way he always

      11 min read

    • Article

      Gold

      Nov 20, 2020

      Gold
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Jul 12, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Aug 9, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      Trouble in Strange Places

      May 1, 2022

      Growing up in a small town has got to be different from growing up in the city, but I don’t know exactly how. I’ve never lived anywhere else but this small town, and I’m eleven years old. The rest of the family is fine with living in Luverne, Minneso

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Family Plot

      May 7, 2020

      The Family Plot
      10 min read

    • Article

      Dolly’s Star Turn

      Jul 12, 2023

      Dolly’s Star Turn
      7 min read

    • Article

      Thank God Nothing Lasts Forever

      May 21, 2021

      Thank God Nothing Lasts Forever
      16 min read

    • Article

      “No Brown Sugar in Anybody’s Milk”

      Jun 5, 2023

      Essie T-e-e-e. Essie T. Where is that girl? Essie T., hurry up and come in here and fasten the back of this dress. Honestly, girl, are you always so slow? A big clumsy-looking girl pushed herself across the room. She walked as if she were afraid that

      10 min read

    • Article

      All My Tomorrows

      May 10, 2022

      It was Misha’s first day minding the shop, and already she’d broken the fifth rule. Always lock the door immediately. When you had the most valuable merchandise in the universe, you had to take the utmost precautions. She hadn’t meant to disobey. It

      13 min read

    • Article

      AUNT MAUD’S SECRET Part 1

      Sep 1, 2021

      “WHAT! SERIOUSLY?” “Settle down, Martin,” said Ms. Phelps as she poured herself a second mug of coffee that morning. She sat down at the kitchen table, gently blowing on the steam. “Aunt Maud is so excited about her visit and really looking forward

      6 min read

    • Article

      Part 2 SOCKS

      Apr 1, 2022

      Part 2 SOCKS
      7 min read

    • Article

      Evidence

      Mar 6, 2023

      Evidence
      25 min read

    • Article

      Dark DEEDS

      Jan 13, 2021

      Dark DEEDS
      9 min read

    • Article

      Black Water Sister

      Aug 2, 2021

      The drawing must have been bundled up with other, less interesting papers, or Jess wouldn’t have thrown it away. Mom had kept every piece of art Jess had ever made, her childhood scrawls treated with as much reverence as the pieces from her first – a

      5 min read

    • Article

      Child’s PLAY

      Jun 2, 2020

      Child’s PLAY
      6 min read

    • Article

      First Steps

      Sep 14, 2021

      First Steps
      6 min read

    • Article

      FIRST Steps

      Sep 26, 2023

      FIRST Steps
      6 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Forged by Fire

    4/5

    133 ratings15 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      this is the second time I read this book. First time 3 years ago when it was on the Battle of the Books list and it is on there again for 2011. Still just as disturbing the second time reading. I actually hurt for Gerald and Angel and almost cried when Queen died.

      Gerald is 3 when the book opens.
      Gerald's mama, Monique, is very rough as she hits him with her belt or shoe and hits and hits and hits. p 2
      Aunt Queen looks in on him regularly. Gerald goes to live with Queen after he sets the apartment on fire and his mother goes to jail for child abandonment. She is a "real" mother to Gerald, loving and nurturing.
      Monique gets out of jail and shows up with Jordan Sparks, her husband and Angel, the daughter she had in jail. She was pregnant when she went to jail. Now she wants Gerald to come live with them, but he hardly even remembers her.
      Queen decides she'll never let Gerald go with them after she sees the kind of man Jordan is. It is obvious Jordan has no use for children.
      Jordan and his mother have been raising Angel where she has been abused by both of them. Queen tried to get Angel but they wouldn't let her have them.
      Then Queen has a heart attack and dies and Gerald now has to go with Jordan and Monique.
      Jordan is especially mean to the children when he is drunk and Monique looks the other way.
      Then Jordan begins to molest Angel who is now six
      Gerald is now a student at Hazelwood Middle School and has made friends with Rob.
      Jordan is abusing Angel so badly that Gerald confides in Mr. Washington, Rob's father. He takes action and Jordan lands in jail for child molestation. Monique is angry and blames the children and never admits the abuse.
      Andy and B.J. are friends and are on the basketball team with Rob and Gerald.
      Angel is taking dancing lessons and is a natural at it.
      things change again when they come home and Jordan is there. Eventually he moves back in and leaves the children alone, but Gerald doesn't trust him.
      Kiara, Angel's friend and Rob's younger sister.
      One day Monique gets hit by a car and her brain is never right again. Jordan stays but is disgusted by Monique.
      After the basketball game, some of the guys, 17 years old, are planning to do a little drinking.
      Gerald goes home in order to watch Angel since Jordan is home.
      Keisha calls Gerald because Andy, her boyfriend hasn't come by as he promised.
      There was an accident involving a drunk driver, Andy, and Rob is dead. His family is devestated.
      Amazingly Jordan seems to become more civil to the children and Monique lives in her brain.
      But then one day, Jordan comes home very drunk to find Angel alone. He says he needs female companionship and forces Angel into the bedroom.
      She has put some hotdogs on to boil and while Jordan is raping Angel, the kitchen catches on fire.
      Gerald comes home and Jordan tries to kill him.
      Jordan is dead. He fell trying to run out of the burning apartment not even trying to save the children.
      Gerald carries Angel to safety falling over an object in the doorway.
      Firefighters come to fight the fire and an ambulance comes to take Gerald and Angel to the hospital, where Monique seems to have been jarred back to reality. She rides in the Ambulance as does Tiger, Angel's cat.
      "With flames and fear behind the,. Geral and Angel ride together to the music of the sirens which had decoaretd thier past and would forge their future." p 150
      Actually Jordan did save their lives. When Gerald tripped over Jordan's body, he fell with Angel putting them on the floor where the air was breathable.
    • 5/5
      This is the only book that ever made me cry.
    • 5/5
      best book
    • 5/5
      Good
    • 3/5
      Read it with students. They LOVE this book. There is so much action, they stay interested...
    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It is an interesting read and there are LOTS of different things going on in the story. This book is about a young boy, who goes through some difficult times growing up. The book begins with Gerald being 3 years old, and it follows his experiences, obstacles, and losses throughout the story. Gerald was living with his mom until there was a fire at home, and his mom was forced to give him away to Aunt Queen. On his birthday she surprised him with a bike as a present. His mom also came back on his birthday with a daughter, Angel, and a new husband, Jordan Sparks. Suddenly Aunt Queen had a heart attack and passed away. Life became more difficult for Gerald when he was forced to live with his mother, sister, and stepfather. Jordan (his stepfather) was a drunk and he was physically, verbally, and emotionally abusing Gerald’s mom, Monica, Gerald, and little Angel. The book follows the experiences shared by this family.
    • 3/5
      The story was okay, I just didn't care for the writing. It felt very episodic. Years or months would go by, the narrator would explain what things were like for the family at that moment, and then you'd get a scene with some action and dialogue. Then, once again, lots of time would go by, lots of narration, then a scene. I didn't care for it. The ending was also very predictable.
    • 1/5
      The protagonist, Gerald, is a 3-year-old in the first two chapters where we learn about his mother and her poor parenting skills, as a result of her drug abuse and selfish nature. Gerald's mother goes to jail after leaving him alone and the house catching fire while she is out doing drugs. The rest of the book unfolds just as expected. As a teenager, Gerald is put in a terrible situation while living with his abusive step-father and submissive, pathetic mother, and sadly his sexually abused half-sister Angel. This book was poorly planned and written. It lacked depth and description and contained a predictable, annoyingly predictable plot and resolution. I hated the author's weak character development and use of an unlikely combination of character traits. The mother, Monique, was selfish, naive, and foolish to the point of ridiculous, disgusting, and being a completely unbelievable character. The stepfather, Jordan, and younger sister, Angel, also lacked believability, which made the book even less entertaining. The events and outcomes were typical of a sappy soap-opera or low-budget Lifetime movie.I will not be reading any more books by Sharon Draper. She is a terrible writer with weak ideas and voice and no ability of producing any elements found in quality literature.
    • 4/5
      Forged By Fire, the second in the Hazelwood High trilogy was published in 1997. It tells the story of Gerald and struggles within a very troubled home. The book opens with three-year old Gerald being left home alone while his mother goes out (again) to drink at a club/bar. While playing with a lighter and an action figure, he sets a fire which almost kills him. To help stabilize his life and because his mother, Monique, is clearly not ready to be a mother; Gerald is moved in with his loving Aunt Queen. She nurtures him and he helps take care of her in her old age. This is a period of calm for Gerald but his soon becomes chaotic when his mother comes to pick him up with her new husband Jordan. Soon, Gerald and his little sister Angel have to avoid the blows and sexual abuse of Jordan, a violent drunk who makes life hell for both of them. Gerald protects Angel any way he knows how leading to a final, violent conclusion. Forged By Fire is a well written book for teens between 7th and 10th grade. It has a clear moral message. The inner and outer struggles of its young African-American protagonist add weight and depth to the story. It has won the Coretta Scott King award and wound up on a YALSA best of 1998 book list as well as being a YALSA quick-pick for reluctant readers.
    • 4/5
      This was a great book. The bad guys were really bad, the good guys were really good, and the drama was Lifetime Original movie caliber, but the writing was good, and the characters were loveable.
    • 5/5
      Forged by Fire was the first interesting book
    • 1/5
      This. Book. Sucked. The characters were cardboard, the plot was contrived, too much time was covered in too short a space, and everything was told rather than shown. It was like Sharon Draper was trying to cram as many issues as possible into the story and they all ended up spilling out, leaving an empty shell. In addition, so many parts were unbelievable. Like: why did the protagonist's father get visitation rights towards his daughter whom he was convicted of molesting?There are so many other, great books out there that deal with the same themes -- please look elsewhere!
    • 5/5
      I am normally not interested in books like forged by fire but this book causght my attention on the 1st page. Forged by Fire made me want to keep reading and wanting to know what will happen next. I am now more interested in books like forged by fire. I still read this book over and over.
    • 5/5
      Forged by fire by Sharon Draper, is a great book. I recommend it to anyone it’s a young adult novel it the second book in the Hazelwood High trilogy. Its Gerald’s story, it will touch your heart in many different ways it’s his struggle with his life changes; and his little sisters too. So let me tell you about it. Gerald’s mother takes him home from the grocery store changes his clothes and tells him to play. His mother is addicted to drugs so she then leaves him in the house by himself. For Gerald its scary but that’s when the big adventure starts. He finds a lighter and sets the house on fire by accident and that’s where the whole story unfolds.
    • 5/5
      Forged By Fire is a great book that has to do with teens going through teen everyday problems. It shows that not evrybody has such and great life and has to go through alot of problems. Not evryboydy's life is perfect.

    Book preview

    Forged by Fire - Sharon M. Draper

    ONE

    "IF YOU DON’T sit your stinkin’, useless butt back down in that shopping cart, I swear I’ll bust your greasy face in! she screamed at the three-year-old in front of her. He studied her face, decided she was serious, and put his leg back inside the cart. He was standing near the front end of the cart, amidst an assorted pile of cigarette boxes, egg cartons, and pop bottles. He didn’t want to sit down anyway because of the soft, uncomfortable load in his pants, which had been there all afternoon and which felt cold and squishy when he moved too much. He rarely had accidents like that, but when he did, Mama sometimes made him keep it in his pants all day to teach him a lesson."

    Gerald was only three, but he had already learned many such lessons. He’d never seen Sesame Street, never heard of Riverfront Stadium—he didn’t even know he lived in Cincinnati. But he knew the important things—like never mess with Mama when she was in bed—Mama got really mad when you woke her up, especially if she had somebody in bed with her. And never touch the hot thing that Mama used to light her cigarettes, even if the mysterious orange-and-blue fire that comes out of it liked to tease you and dance for only a moment before running away.

    Mama had once caught Gerald playing with the lighter, and she made the fire come out and she held his hand right over the flame. It wasn’t his friendly fire dancer, though, but a cruel red soldier that made his hand scream and made him dizzy with pain and he could smell something like the meat Mama cooked, but it was his hand. When she stopped, she had washed his hand with cool water and soothed him with warm hugs and wrapped with salve and bandages the place where the fire soldier had stabbed him. She told him that she had done it for his own good and to teach him a lesson. He had tried to tell her that he was just trying to find the fire dancer, but she wasn’t listening and he had given up, thankful for the hugs and the silence.

    One other lesson that Gerald had learned was never, never stay near Mama when she sniffed the white stuff. She got it from a man named Leroy who smelled too sweet and smiled too much. When he leaves, you hide behind the couch and hope Aunt Queen comes over because sometimes Mama yells and gets her belt or her shoe and hits, and hits, and hits…. And sometimes she just goes to sleep on the floor and it gets dark and you cry and your tummy feels tight and hurty, but at least there’s no shoe to run away from.

    Once Aunt Queen had found Gerald curled up behind the couch sucking his thumb. His pajamas were soaked and smelly and he was shivering and hungry. Mama had been gone all day. She had told him not to leave the room, and he had really, really tried to be good, but he was so cold, so very cold. Aunt Queen had taken him to her apartment and given him a warm bath, a bowl of hot soup, and some warm, fuzzy sleepers, even though she had to pin the back of them so they wouldn’t fall off. Then Mama had come and she and Aunt Queen had yelled and screamed so much that Gerald had to hold his ears while he lay curled at the foot of the bed. Finally Mama started crying and Aunt Queen was saying stuff like, I know, honey, and Gerald knew he was going back home.

    That night, Mama had hugged him and kissed him and held him close until he fell asleep. Gerald had felt so warm and special and golden—he wanted to feel like that forever. He knew his mama loved him. She had bought him a G.I. Joe man last week and it wasn’t even his birthday or Christmas or anything, and most days she combed his hair and dressed him in clean clothes, and told him to say, Yes, ma’am to grown folks. And sometimes, on really good days, she would hug him and say, You know you’re my best baby boy, don’t you, Gerald? You know you’re my baby, don’t you? And he would smile and that warm, golden feeling would start at his toes and fill him all the way up to his smile.

    Even though Mama had yelled at him, today was a good day. Mama always yelled—it was no big deal. (Some days he yelled back at her. Then she would slap him and he’d cry and he’d cuss at her and then she would slap him until his head hurt. So mostly he ignored her.) But today was a good day, a shiny day, he thought. The sun was bright gold outside against a clear blue sky. And inside the grocery store there were so many colors and sounds and lights that Gerald just grinned. It was always crowded when they went. Other children would be in carts also and they would have to pass very close to each other. Gerald liked to pretend he was driving a big, fine silver car down the expressway.

    Sometimes the cart would be a tank, as he passed cautiously through rows of armed cling peaches and silent sentinels that looked like boxes of Frosted Flakes. And at the checkout lane, the armies rolled smoothly down the long black road that disappeared under the counter. He started to ask Mama where it went, but it was more fun to imagine that it went to a secret hideout where only sweet potatoes and boxes of oatmeal were allowed.

    When they got home from the grocery store, Gerald sat on the floor and watched Mama stack the boxes and cans on the shelf. She was whistling—he had never heard her whistle before and he loved the way she laughed as he tried to imitate her. She changed his clothes (and didn’t even yell at him for not being a big boy) and gave him two cookies and an apple. Then she went into the other room. When she came out, she had changed her clothes and Gerald thought he had never seen anything so lovely. She had on her sparkly fancy dress that Gerald liked to touch.

    Mama will be right back, baby, she told him. I just have to go see Mr. Leroy for a minute. You stay right here and wait for me, you hear? Gerald started to cry, but he didn’t want Mama to lose her good mood, so he just nodded and bit his lip. The door closed and he could hear her high heels clicking on the steps. Then it was very, very quiet.

    After he finished both his cookies and the apple had turned brown on the white parts, Gerald looked for something to do. It was getting dark and he wanted G.I. Joe to sit with him because the shadows on the wall were getting long and scary. He found G.I. Joe on the floor next to Mama’s bed, right next to the cigarette lighter that she had been looking for this morning. Gerald picked it up and for a time he used it as a gun for Joe, then it was a log for Joe to jump over, then it was an enemy for Joe to attack.

    Finally Gerald started idly flicking the little red handle. At first is just made a scratchy sound and the smell made him cough and remember how he’d got that brown place in the palm of his hand. Then he remembered the tiny fire dancer, and he wondered if it still lived in there with the fire-sword soldier.

    After numerous flicks, he got the fire to stay on. He grinned with delight. The dancer was there, smiling at him and bowing for him, changing from splendid orange to icy green to iridescent purple. The lighter flame flickered magically, making golden the purple shadows on the wall.

    With sudden inspiration, Gerald shouted, Hey Joe, we got a torch! as he and G.I. Joe marched around the kitchen table. Gerald crawled under the table then, flicking the lighter over and over again to light the way for G.I. Joe. They fought shadows and monsters; they blew up cities and kingdoms. Gerald made the sound effects and G.I. Joe dutifully followed his general into combat. As the mighty battle came to its climax, Gerald crawled up on a chair and stood on the kitchen table, waving his arms triumphantly. Mama would kill me, he thought momentarily, if she saw me up here, but the thought passed as G.I. Joe fought the terrible mountain man by the light of only a single torch.

    Suddenly the tiny light of G.I. Joe’s torch was huge and bright as the tip of one curtain in the window touched the flame. Gerald heard a loud whoosh and then he turned in terror to see the whole window covered with harsh red flames that crawled and licked and jumped along the windowsill. Gerald scrambled down from the table and ran to his hiding place behind the couch. Mama said stay here and wait for her, he told himself. I know she’ll be here in a minute. He peeked around the corner of the sofa and watched flames consume the boxes of cereal and macaroni that Mama had just bought. When the fire reached the bottle of Big K soda, Gerald watched, fascinated, as the soda bubbled, then fizzed. When it finally burst in a loud, sizzling explosion, Gerald jumped back behind the sofa, coughing and wheezing from the heat and smoke.

    He curled up in his usual position then, thumb in his mouth, crying softly. He thought about his mama and how pretty she was. He wondered if G.I. Joe would ever find his way back. And he wondered how he could see so many colors with his eyes closed.

    TWO

    WHEN GERALD WOKE up, he didn’t know where he was.

    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1