Synopses & Reviews
andlt;bandgt;What means more, shared values or shared blood? Maxieand#8217;s choice changes everything in this acclaimed companion to andlt;iandgt;The Rock and the Riverandlt;/iandgt;.andlt;/bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;i andgt;Bad things happen in the heat, they say.andlt;BRandgt;andnbsp;andnbsp;andnbsp;andnbsp; andlt;/iandgt;Maxie knows all about how fire can erupt at a momentand#8217;s notice, especially now, in the sweltering Chicago summer of 1968. She is a Black Pantherand#8212;or at least she wants to be one. Maxie believes in the movement. She wants to belong. She wants to join the struggle. But everyone keeps telling her sheand#8217;s too young. At fourteen, sheand#8217;s allowed to help out in the office, but she certainly canand#8217;t help patrol the streets. Then Maxie realizes that there is a traitor in their midst, and if she can figure out who it is, it may be her ticket to becoming a real Panther. But when she learns the truth, the knowledge threatens to destroy her world. Maxie must decide: Is becoming a Panther worth paying the ultimate price?
Synopsis
What means more, shared values or shared blood? Maxie's choice changes everything in this acclaimed companion to The Rock and the River.
Bad things happen in the heat, they say.
Maxie knows all about how fire can erupt at a moment's notice, especially now, in the sweltering Chicago summer of 1968. She is a Black Panther--or at least she wants to be one. Maxie believes in the movement. She wants to belong. She wants to join the struggle. But everyone keeps telling her she's too young. At fourteen, she's allowed to help out in the office, but she certainly can't help patrol the streets. Then Maxie realizes that there is a traitor in their midst, and if she can figure out who it is, it may be her ticket to becoming a real Panther. But when she learns the truth, the knowledge threatens to destroy her world. Maxie must decide: Is becoming a Panther worth paying the ultimate price?
Synopsis
Right after Maxie and her first boyfriend Sam got into their first major fight, Sam's brother (and best friend) died in the fight for racial eqaulity. At the end of Rock and the River, Sam made his choice: to join the Black Panthers.
Now, it's time for Maxie to tell her story.
A story that's rarely been told before-- a story about a black woman living in one of the toughest neighborhoods of Chicago right after the assassination of Dr. King. A story about a woman who has unparalelled strength. A story about a woman who just happens to be a Black Panther.
About the Author
Kekla Magoon is the Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe New Talent Award-winning and NAACP Image Award-nominated author of The Rock and the River. She lives and writes in New York City, but travel around the country presenting book programs and writing workshops for teens and adults. Kekla also writes non-fiction books for the educational market, and is coeditor of Young Adult and Children's Literature for the arts journal Hunger Mountain. She holds a B.A. in history from Northwestern University and an M.F.A. in writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts.