Forged by Fire

When Gerald was a child he was fascinated by fire. But fire is dangerous and powerful, and tragedy strikes. His substance-addicted mother is taken from him. Then he loses the loving generosity of a favorite aunt. A brutal stepfather with a flaming temper and an evil secret makes his life miserable. The one bright light in Gerald's life is his little half sister, Angel, whom he struggles to protect from her father, Jordan Sparks, who abuses her, and from their mother, whose irresponsible behavior forces Gerald to work hard to keep the family together.

As a teenager, Gerald finds success as a member of the Hazelwood Tigers basketball team, while Angel develops her talents as a dancer. Trouble still haunts them, however, and Gerald learns, painfully, that young friends can die and old enemies must be faced. In the end he must stand up to his stepfather alone in a blazing confrontation.

Gerald connects to his sister Angel and figures out that Angel has been enduring much of the terror that Gerald once knew; being abused sexually, physically, mentally, etc., by Jordan, Monique’s new husband. Trying to protect Angel from Jordan gives Gerald a challenge as he tries to understand his mother’s decisions and why Jordan is in their lives. Gerald finds out that Jordan has been abusing Angel in multiples ways, along with his mother, and takes a final stand against Jordan to fight for himself and his remaining loved ones.

Activity One

Write a poem about one of the following topics, or choose a topic of your own that deals with the ideas in the book.

Fear
Guilt
Loneliness
Confusion
Abuse
Pain
Loss
Hope

Activity Two

Write a letter to one of the characters in the book explaining your feelings about the events in the story. What advice would you give Angel, or Gerald, or Monique, or Jordan?
Use the conventions you would use when writing a letter, including return address, salutation, correct indentation, etc.

Activity Three

Do small group research, or individual projects where you research one issue found in the book and create an inquiry based project(project that gives information), with brochure, to educate the rest of the class on that particular issue. Use outside resources, creativity in presenting your issue, and to in depth to cover the issue.