Synopses & Reviews
Sampson, George, and Rameck could easily have followed their childhood friends into drugdealing, gangs, and prison. Like their peers, they came from poor, single-parent homes in urban neighborhoods where survival, not scholastic success, was the priority. When the three boys met in a magnet high school in Newark, they recognized each other as kindred spirits who wanted to overcome the incredible odds against them and reach for opportunity. They made a friendship pact, deciding together to take on the biggest challenge of their lives: attending college and then medical school. Along the way they made mistakes and faced disappointments, but by working hard, finding the right mentors, separating themselves from negative influences, and supporting each other, they achieved their goals—and more.
In We Beat the Street, award-winning YA author and teacher Sharon Draper brings the doctors' childhood, teenage, and young-adult anecdotes vividly to life. Brief “conversations” with the doctors at the end of each chapter provide context and advice in a friendly, nonintrusive way. Youngsters will be captivated by the men's honest accounts of the street life that threatened to swallow them up, and how they helped each other succeed beyond their wildest expectations.
Review
"This is truly a life-changing book, one that shows that anything is possible...with a little help from our friends."James McBride, author of
The Color of Water and
Miracle at St. Anna"A powerful message of hope."Dallas Morning News
"Gripping, courageous, and inspiring."Philadelphia Inquirer
"After you've read it, pass it on...The Pact is a book that should never end up on a shelf because it is probably the most important book for African-American families that has been written since the protest era...Besides their personal stories, the doctors share practical steps that can be useful to a circle of friends in making their own pact...Get The Pact. It just may change a teen's future."Chicago Sun-Times
"They are an inspiration to young people everywhere, and their message is one that can transform the world."Billy Cosby
— Various
Great book! — Frank Rich, NY Times
Review
“Every parent should read
The Bond because it highlights the power of forgiveness and drives home the fact that it is never too late to be a family.”—Bill Cosby
"The authors of The Pact return with a book about how it feels to need a dad and what it takes to be a good one. Timely, healing, and hope-filled."—Detroit Free Press
"A memorable portrait of the resiliency of family. However configured."—The Cleveland Plain Dealer
"The Threee Doctors pull no punches.... This is a book that every father and every family should read and take to heart. It's honest and brave and true."—Queen Latifah, musician, actress, and author of Ladies First
"Powerful, candid straight talk needed to help mend our community fabric and strengthen our family ties."—Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey
Synopsis
Making a pact to stick together through the rough times in their impoverished Newark neighborhood, three boys found the strength and determination to work through their difficulties in order to make their dreams come true by completing high school, getting through college, and attending medical school together. Reprint.
Synopsis
Growing up on the rough streets of Newark, New Jersey, Rameck, George,and Sampson could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison. But when a presentation at their school made the three boys aware of the opportunities available to them in the medical and dental professions, they made a pact among themselves that they would become doctors. It took a lot of determination—and a lot of support from one another—but despite all the hardships along the way, the three succeeded. Retold with the help of an award-winning author, this younger adaptation of the adult hit novel The Pact is a hard-hitting, powerful, and inspirational book that will speak to young readers everywhere.
Synopsis
Chosen by Essence to be among the forty most influential African Americans, the three doctors grew up in the streets of Newark, facing city life’s temptations, pitfalls, even jail. But one day these three young men made a pact. They promised each other they would all become doctors, and stick it out together through the long, difficult journey to attaining that dream. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt are not only friends to this day—they are all doctors.
This is a story about the power of friendship. Of joining forces and beating the odds. A story about changing your life, and the lives of those you love most...together.
Synopsis
Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt discovered early in their friendship that they shared a disturbing trait: as children, they navigated dangerous inner-city life without a fathers guidance. In spite of this, they escaped delinquency and crime to form the Pact, dedicated to putting themselves on the road to success. Now, the Three Doctors make a new promise: to set aside their resentment, and rebuild the relationships with their fathersmen they barely recognize. Told in alternating voices between father and son,
The Bond explores the hard lessons of growing up without a father and suggests ways to stem the tide of fatherlessness in communities across the country. Honest, brave, and poignant,
The Bond is a book for every child and every family.
About the Author
George Jenkins, Sampson Davis, and Rameck Hunt grew up together in Newark and graduated from Seton Hall University. Davis and Hunt received their medical degrees from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and Jenkins received his dentistry degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry. The three doctors are the recipients of the Essence Lifetime Achievement Award. All three continue to live in Newark.
Table of Contents
TEST--->Introduction1. Dreaming Big
2. Home
3. Ma
4. Common Ground
5. Caged
6. A Big Break
7. Hope
George on Peer Pressure
8. Summer Odyssey
9. Earth Angel
10. A Different World
Rameck on Giving Back
11. Rap
12. Lovesick
13. Access Med
14. Old Ties
15. D.W.B.
16. Becoming Doctors
Sam on Perseverance
17. Graduation
18. Goodbye
19. Home Again
Epilogue
Acknowledgments