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.
Chapter 34-Author’s NoteChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 34 Summary: “Monday, September 23, 1957”
Sylvia, DJ, and Gary decide to skip school and go over to the house of Miss Daisy, the president of the Arkansas NAACP, to see how the Nine are doing. Miss Daisy offers them the opportunity to ride in the car with the “Negro” press corps. They excitedly agree and end up parked in front of the white mob at Central High. They watch the white mob pelt the reporters with rocks and bricks. They also watch the Nine get past the police and enter the school building. Miss Daisy has the cars drive around the back and immediately pick up the students, who escape out the back door as soon as they have entered the building. Members of the white mob are calling for their own children to get out of the school if the Black kids are in there.
Sylvia’s mother is furious when she found out what Gary and Sylvia did, but DJ looks at Sylvia like a “warrior queen.” The next day no one goes to school because the parents are too afraid of what the white mob might do to their kids. Sylvia learns that President Eisenhower plans to send in the army to help the school integrate. Sylvia watches the helicopters roll in and thinks it looks like they are being invaded.
Chapter 35 Summary: “Wednesday, September 25, 1957—Morning”
Sylvia and her siblings stay home another day and watch the drama unfolding on the TV. Sylvia watches as all nine students, surrounded by 22 soldiers, finally enter the front door of Central High School. At first, DJ does not know if the soldiers are “good guys” or “bad guys,” and her mother explains that they are there to see that the law is enforced and the students are allowed to enter the school. Sylvia is happy to finally see the Nine go through the front doors of Central.
Chapter 36 Summary: “Tuesday, October 1, 1957”
Sylvia calls Rachel to see how things are going and to tell her she saw her on TV. She tells Sylvia that her parents are re-building the store and that Reggie sends them seven dollars a week. Both girls talk about how the KKK is burning crosses on the yards of the Nine. Rachel mentions that the rebuild of their store and Miss Lillie’s shop is being executed by a racially integrated crew of workers. The girls agree this should be possible everywhere. In her diary, Sylvia writes a poem called “Children of Color” about the importance of letting the voices of all children be heard.
Author’s Note
The author sums up the significant events in the months following the end of the story, including how the Nine were harassed inside the school on a daily basis and how long the National Guard had to stay and protect the students. The white students who bullied and harassed the Nine were never prosecuted. The governor continued to buck integration and oppose the President of the United States. He even shut down the public schools for one whole year rather than allow them to be integrated. They opened again in 1959, fully integrated.
Chapter 34-Author’s Note Analysis
The last chapters of the book focus on the historical events in the days leading up to and following the integration of Central High School. The characters witness this history and describe the behaviors and community impact from the inside. Sylvia and Rachel continue their friendship and also continue to celebrate the signs of racial integration happening in their community.
When the stories of Sylvia and the Nine diverge, the hero’s journey continues. While Sylvia returns to her familiar and safe surroundings, the Little Rock Nine forge ahead for the sake of themselves and the nation. Arguably, the entire Black community in Little Rock is a hero in this story. Together, they made a plan to make the racial integration of schools a reality. They embarked on a journey that took them through uncharted territory, down a road of tests and trials, until they eventually completed their quest and successfully integrated the schools. While Draper uses the journey of the individual to illustrate the dynamic course of history, she also demonstrates the power of solidarity and community in the cause for racial justice.
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