111 pages • 3 hours read
Sharon M. DraperFire from the Rock
Fiction | Book | Middle Grade | Published in 2007A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Chapters 4-6Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 4 Summary: “Monday, January 7, 1957”
Sylvia is back at school, staring at a boy named Reggie and serving as the audience for her classmate Calvin’s disruptive antics. Calvin gets caught whispering insults about the teacher to Sylvia. To get out of trouble, Calvin tries to change the subject to something he knows the teacher wants to discuss: school integration. The teacher, Miss Washington, asks Calvin to remind the class what the Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision states. He answers correctly by saying it made separate but equal schooling illegal. Miss Washington explains to the class that the Little Rock school board agreed to comply and has a plan for rolling out the integration of schools. Reggie says he would rather stay in his own school: “They don’t need us and we don’t need them” (37). The teacher says the plan is to integrate the high school grades first and that any interested student should let her know if they want to be on the list of the first kids to integrate Central High. Sylvia writes in her diary that she appreciates how strict Miss Washington is, and she wonders if she has experienced difficult times in her life regarding segregation. Sylvia credits Miss Washington with her own love of poetry, and she includes a poem she wrote and that her teacher posted on parent night.
Chapter 5 Summary: “Monday, January 7, 1957—Evening”
DJ returns from her first day back to school to learn that her father is working late at his second job at a brickyard. Sylvia reminds her that he doesn’t actually lay bricks because only union members get to do that and “Negroes can’t join” (40). Sylvia mentions that the price of gas has gone up and that Black workers do not make the same minimum wage of $1 an hour that white people make. Sylvia and DJ discuss the unfairness of women making less than men and teachers at the “colored” school making half what the white teachers make. Sylvia’s family starts eating dinner even though her brother Gary has yet to return home. In the middle of dinner, they hear a commotion on the porch and discover three white boys running away after dumping the beaten body of Gary on the porch. Sylvia wants to call the police, but her father reminds her that the one Black police officer is not allowed to arrest white people, so it won’t do any good to call him. Gary says he stopped by the NAACP to ask about the progress on school integration and then walked home. The three white boys—including Johnny Crandall and brothers Sonny and Bubba Smith—followed him in their car and called him racist names and threw beer cans at his head. Sylvia worries that she will be injured next.
Chapter 6 Summary: “Tuesday, January 8, 1957”
Sylvia eats lunch at school with her friend Lou Ann Johnson. Lou Ann has had a steady boyfriend all year, and Sylvia chooses to seek her guidance with Reggie. Lou Ann tells her to just relax and find a way to let Reggie know that she likes him. Before Sylvia can respond, Lou Ann flags down Reggie and invites him to come sit at their table. Much to Sylvia’s surprise, Reggie asks her to go to the upcoming high school basketball game with him. They agree to meet there so they don’t have to explain anything to their parents about a “date.”
Before Sylvia can finish the conversation, Miss Washington requests to meet with her. In the meeting, Sylvia learns that her middle school wants her to represent them in the integration of Central High. Sylvia asks that the opportunity be given to her brother, Gary, who really wants it. Miss Washington insists she is the one they want and tells Sylvia she will speak with her parents. Sylvia is worried that Gary will be mad that she is being asked instead of him.
Chapters 4-6 Analysis
Tensions mount as Sylvia and her classmates anticipate the roll-out of the Little Rock school integration plan. The characters express various perspectives on the issue of school integration. There is fear, excitement, longing, and resentment. Sylvia describes her teacher, Miss Washington, as strict but respectful. Sylvia knows that her teacher cares for the students and holds them to high expectations to ensure that they are prepared for a hostile world beyond the walls of their nurturing school. This reality foreshadows a foreboding contrast in the school experiences for the students who ultimately integrate Central High.
These chapters list the many racist inequalities present in 1957, including lower pay, limited job options, constant harassment, no protection from police, and bodily harm for the Black community. As Gary actively positions himself on the front lines of school integration, he increasingly suffers the consequences of the white racist community. Gary’s anger is palpable. Everywhere he turns he is reminded of racism, and he is committed to fighting against it in every way possible. This chapter also introduces Johnny Crandall, son of the man who trains his dog to attack Black people, and the Smith brothers, who are known for trolling the streets of the Black neighborhood and harassing people.
These chapters further the plot of young adolescent Sylvia coming of age as she is asked out on her first date and learns that she is being placed on the list of students to integrate Central High. Reggie also demonstrates that the whole community knows about Gary’s beating from the local white boys, and he volunteers to join the fight if Gary needs help. Tensions continue to rise as violence becomes a real possibility for the students who are chosen to racially ingrate Central High.
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By Sharon M. Draper
