Darkness Before Dawn by Sharon Draper

Year Published: 2001
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN:0689851340
Pages: 276
Classification:Fiction
Media Type: Book
Interest Level: 7-12
Reading Level: 4
Subjects: Rape, High Schools, African American

Reader's Annotation: Keisha Montgomery, the senior class president of Hazelwood High, is coping with her ex-boyfriend’s recent suicide and encounters an older, attractive and dangerous guy in her school.

Summary: This is the third book of trilogy. Keisha Montgomery has a lot of things going on in her senior year while coping with her ex-boyfriend’s death. She is the class president and a track athelete of Hazelwood High. She gets really close to the new tract coach, Jonathan. She develops a serious relationship with him even if he is older and the principal’s son. She soon discovers herself entrapped in this handsome man’s dark motives. This is a fast-paced romantic book that teens will enjoy reading and can also learn valuable lessons about date rape. An easy read book.

Awards: ALA Booklist, ALA/YALSA Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, IRA Young Adults' Award, School Library Journal, Voice of Youth Advocates

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