Fire From the Rock

Review from Voice of Youth Advocates:

Life is normal for Sylvia in Little Rock, Arkansas. She is the average eighth grade girl: curious about life, interested in boys, and trying to define herself as a teen. Sylvia has friends, family and even a budding romance. But things are about to change. The mere whisper of the word integration threatens to ignite the powder keg that is Little Rock. The year is 1957, and there is talk of integrating Little Rock Central High School. Being one of the first black students to walk those halls seems like an honor to Sylvia. She imagines a whole different world of shiny, new lockers and a library stocked with thousands of titles that she has not read. But the rose-colored lenses through which she had been looking begin to come clearer when she discovers the danger that lies ahead for the black students who plan to attend Central. The hostility in the town that quietly simmered reaches a boiling point when violence touches Sylvia's family. Should it be handled with the nonviolent approach that her parents have embraced or is it time for something more aggressive, as her brother Gary suggests? As the violence escalates, the question becomes whether Sylvia will even live to see the first day of school at Central. This historical fiction novel is a must-have.