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A review by nematome
Forged by Fire by Sharon M. Draper
3.0
These books, to me, feel oversimplified and shallow.
However, these books also somehow manage to make suicide, drunk driving, sexual molestation, drug abuse, and rape school appropriate...FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILDREN.
I don't even care that I think these books could use more character development, more nuanced conflicts, and less melodrama. All I care about is the fact that I have a remediation class of fifteen kids who ALL hate reading, and who all have become OBSESSED with these books, to the point that a bunch of them specifically asked to have Forged by Fire to read AFTER taking a three hour long state READING exam.
I got them Darkness Before the Dawn today and a group of them split off to read while I reviewed with the others. The reading group read in pairs for an entire hour and then groaned in disappointment when afternoon announcements came on. These books are like gold.
However, these books also somehow manage to make suicide, drunk driving, sexual molestation, drug abuse, and rape school appropriate...FOR MIDDLE SCHOOL CHILDREN.
I don't even care that I think these books could use more character development, more nuanced conflicts, and less melodrama. All I care about is the fact that I have a remediation class of fifteen kids who ALL hate reading, and who all have become OBSESSED with these books, to the point that a bunch of them specifically asked to have Forged by Fire to read AFTER taking a three hour long state READING exam.
I got them Darkness Before the Dawn today and a group of them split off to read while I reviewed with the others. The reading group read in pairs for an entire hour and then groaned in disappointment when afternoon announcements came on. These books are like gold.