Book Club Blog

POSTED BY: Brittany Alicastro, Ariel Kaplan, Jacqueline Nodarse

RECOMMENDED FOR: Ages 12 and up

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SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCE #1: This is a link to a website on PBSkids. It tells the story of the LIttle Rock Nine and how they made history at Central High School in LIttle Rock in 1957. The article gives a summary of who they are and what they did as it incorporates historical movements, people, and dates in a way that students can understand. The Little Rock Nine are an important part of the story Fire from the Rock as Sylvia is offered a chance (fictionally in the story -- Sylvia is a made up character) to go to Central High School with them. After much consideration and thinking, Sylvia ultimately declines the invitation in the book and watches her classmates endure harsh treatments.

SOCIAL STUDIES RESOURCE #2: This website, another PBSkids website, offers videos, pictures, information, etc. on the Civil Rights Movement, Little Rock Nine, and desegregation. The site offers a short video, narrated by one of the Little Rock Nine students, that can be incorporated in a lesson plan. 

ART RESOURCE #1: This source is a book that can be purchased called The Little Rock Nine Stand up for Their Rights. This book includes a reader's theater that can be incorporated into a lesson in the classroom.
ART RESOURCE #2: Another source would be to incorporate music into the lesson. You could use songs that where mentioned in the book or that relate to that time and then have the students draw what they feel based on the song. Attached is a website of top to Civil Rights Protests songs that you could chose from to use with a class. 

IMPORTANT CHARACTERS: 
Sylvia Patterson, a fifteen year old African American girl, acts as a protagonist for the story. She is surrounded racism and violence that only escalates when she is asked to be one of the few who attend an all white high school. Doing this would require Sylvia to leave behind her friends, school, boyfriend, safety, and comfort level to enter a hostile, violent, dangerous situation. Sylvia attending Central would create controversy and potentially put her and her family in danger. The story follows Sylvia as she struggles to make a decision and live her everyday life while taking "advice" from everyone she talks to. Ultimately, Sylvia decides not the attend Central High School and instead supports her schoolmates, the Little Rock Nine, as they brave the harsh conditions. 

Gary is Sylvia's older brother and "trouble-maker". He strives to create change but often times gets himself hurt or put in danger in the process. His beliefs and motives come across strong and harsh at times and although he wishes to attend Central High School is is known that he would do more harm than good there. 

Rachel Zucker is Sylvia's Jewish white friend. She attends Central High School and although she is white she receives discrimination and violence against her. The violence and attacks on Rachel and her family make it known that African Americans were not the only ones being discriminated against at that time. 

SUMMARY OF HISTORICAL CONTENT: Fire From the Rock takes place in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. This was a time where the world was seen in black and white. Black students from Little Rock were being selected to be the first to integrate into the all white Central High School. These 9 students that attended faced possible danger, exclusion and ridicule just to make a difference. The book focuses on the actual historical events, people, and situations during that time. We hear about these situations first-hand from Sylvia's point of view. Some examples that we hear about are Martin Luther King, Civil Rights Movement, Brown vs. Board of Education, and Emmett Till. These are all events and people that as students we read about in our history books but through the story they are told from the point of view of someone living through them

ELEMENT OF SOCIAL JUSTICE: Element 4- Social Movements and Social Change. Fire From the Rock focuses on integration and how difficult it was during this time to be black. During this time, Arkansas educators are trying out this whole new way of life and schooling. By allowing blacks to be part of their school considers Little Rock, Arkansas to be changing. This book represents the struggles that people had living during this time from the inside out and how much they really needed things to change. 


NJ CORE CURRICULUM STANDARDS:  
Social Studies 
6.1.P.B.1: Develop an awareness of the physical  features of the neighborhood community. 
6.1.4.C.5: Describe the role and relationship among households , businesses , laborers and governments within the economic system. 

Art  
1.3.P.D.2 : Create two and three dimensional works of art while exploring color, line shape .form, texture, and space. 
 1.3.P.B.4 : Listen to , imitate and improvise sounds , patterns , or songs.

LETTER TO: 




CRITIQUE OR ENDORSEMENT OF HISTORICAL CONTEN: Fire from the Rock is a well written novel that portrays accurate events and people through the eyes of a fictional character. The novel tells the story of desegregation involving the Little Rock Nine while incorporating a storyline and plot for the main character, Sylvia. I like how the author created a fictional character to tell the story of how a child during that time might be feeling. She recalls real-life people and events, like the Little Rock Nine and Emmet Till, yet tells the stories through the eyes of a made up character. I think it is an interesting way to tell a fiction story with non-fiction information. Her way of incorporating real-life people and events in a way that make it flow so smoothly with the story makes me believe this would be a excellent book to read with a class. I think students would be able to connect to Sylvia and relate to her while being educated on the events that happened in Arkansas in 1957.