We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Pact Led to Success
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,...
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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. Author Biography: The Three Doctors live in Newark, New Jersey. Sharon Draper lives in Cincinnati, Ohio.Publishers WeeklyThe authors of the adult bestseller The Pact here redirect their story for a younger audience. The three young doctors from Newark, N.J., reflect upon the seminal moments, people and relationships from early childhood to graduation that led them to choose medicine over the street (even though the boys "[didn't] even know anybody who went to college"). Each chapter begins with a childhood incident, followed by the doctor's narrative about what that event meant to his future. The authors honestly portray both their successes and failures, including flirting with crime. In one, Rameck Hunt, then in 11th grade, and some old friends (whom his mother called "thugs") beat a homeless man for smoking on school property, until he was critically injured; after Rameck's release from a weekend in a detention center, he resolves to focus on his future. George Jenkins's memory of his first trip to the dentist seeds the early passion that would grow into his own vocation in dentistry. The doctors show how their pact to stick together and support each other through college and medical school helped them achieve their goals. Throughout, the three stay true to themselves, such as when, in a summer pre-med program at Seton Hall, Sampson Davis defends wearing baggy jeans and sweats in a hospital: "If I live in the hood, and I work in the hood, then my patients will think I'm dressed appropriately, don't you think?" Readers searching for role models should find much to cheer and emulate here. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Introduction1Chapter 1"You Don't Have to Cut My Foot off, Do You?" Hanging Tough: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis3Chapter 2"Oh, Man, You're in Trouble Again!" School Problems: A Conversation with Doctor Rameck Hunt13Chapter 3"Isn't that School in the Ghetto?" Influential Teachers: A Conversation with Doctor George Jenkins21Chapter 4"We're Gonna Jack Us some Icees from Jack's!" Temptation and Its Consequences: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis28Chapter 5"How Much do You Need?" Dreams and Missed Opportunities: A Conversation with Doctor Rameck Hunt36Chapter 6"Are You Godzilla or King Kong?" The Beginnings of a Dream: A Conversation with Doctor George Jenkins44Chapter 7"Yeah, Man. They Say the Driver's Dead." Living and Dying on the Streets: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis50Chapter 8"I don't Even Know Anybody Who Went to College." Entering Seventh Grade: A Conversation with Doctor George Jenkins Making Good Grades: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis60Chapter 9"You Kids are Gonna Get Yourself Killed." The Call of the Streets: A Conversation with Doctor Rameck Hunt66Chapter 10"What's up with That? You Think You Better than Us?" So Easy to Fall into the Drug Scene: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis73Chapter 11"A Sticky Web of Bright Pink Silly String Across the Astonished Teacher's Face" Foolishness and Understanding: A Conversation with Doctor Rameck Hunt82Chapter 12"I Think We Could All do this-the Three of Us-Together!" The Beginning of the Pact: A Conversation with Doctor George Jenkins90Chapter 13"If He Dies, You Get Charged with Attempted Murder." Thanksgiving in Jail: A Conversation with Doctor Rameck Hunt100Chapter 14"How do You Plead?" The Judge Asked, "Guilty, Your Honor." Never Again: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis109Chapter 15"Not only Had Their Sons Survived, But They were Heading to College." Strengthening the Pact: A Conversation with Doctor George Jenkins121Chapter 16"It Feels Good, Man. It's Like Doing Push-Ups with My Brain!" The Possibility of Success: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis128Chapter 17"The Boy's Neck Bent in an Odd Way, and Hi Body Fell Limp." The End of Violence and the Start of Giving Back: A Conversation with Doctor Rameck Hunt137Chapter 18"Yo, Yo, Yo! Check It Out! Check It Out!" Rap Stars? A Conversation with Doctor George Jenkins146Chapter 19"For the First Time Since High School, the Three of Us won't be Together." Hanging in there: A Conversation with Doctor George Jenkins153Chapter 20"Driving while Black" The Possibility of Losing the Dream: A Conversation with Doctor Rameck Hunt161Chapter 21"Sometimes You Gotta Fail in Order to Succeed." Going Back to Where It All Began: A Conversation with Doctor Sampson Davis167Chapter 22"To Friends"177Conclusion180Shout-Outs!185
\ Publishers WeeklyThe authors of the adult bestseller The Pact here redirect their story for a younger audience. The three young doctors from Newark, N.J., reflect upon the seminal moments, people and relationships from early childhood to graduation that led them to choose medicine over the street (even though the boys "[didn't] even know anybody who went to college"). Each chapter begins with a childhood incident, followed by the doctor's narrative about what that event meant to his future. The authors honestly portray both their successes and failures, including flirting with crime. In one, Rameck Hunt, then in 11th grade, and some old friends (whom his mother called "thugs") beat a homeless man for smoking on school property, until he was critically injured; after Rameck's release from a weekend in a detention center, he resolves to focus on his future. George Jenkins's memory of his first trip to the dentist seeds the early passion that would grow into his own vocation in dentistry. The doctors show how their pact to stick together and support each other through college and medical school helped them achieve their goals. Throughout, the three stay true to themselves, such as when, in a summer pre-med program at Seton Hall, Sampson Davis defends wearing baggy jeans and sweats in a hospital: "If I live in the hood, and I work in the hood, then my patients will think I'm dressed appropriately, don't you think?" Readers searching for role models should find much to cheer and emulate here. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \ \ \ \ From The CriticsSampson, George, and Rameck were three boys growing up in tough New Jersey neighborhoods. Drugs, robbery, and murder were normal. But a handful of positive influences guided them away from destruction toward each other. They made a pact to go to college. Their friendship and dedication to the pact led all three to graduate from college and medical school. Today they practice medicine and dentistry in the communities where they grew up. I could not put this book down. Each chapter shares an anecdote and personal remarks from one of "The Three Doctors." These are their stories from age six to adulthood. Speaking honestly of their discouragement, failures, and successes, they offer encouragement to kids who find themselves in hopeless situations. This book should be carefully shared with upper elementary and is a must-read for middle and high school. 2005, Dutton's Children's Books, 183 pp., Ages young adult. \ —Vicki Sherbert\ \ \ School Library JournalGr 7 Up-The Three Doctors, as the subjects of this inspirational book call both themselves and their nonprofit foundation, grew up in a tough neighborhood in Newark, NJ. Draper tells an epiphanic story featuring each of the young men by turn, followed by his comments on how a single event affected him across time. Davis, for instance, remembers the hospital where he later became an emergency-medicine physician as the same one where his foot was treated after an incident when he was six. Hunt recalls first meeting Sampson and Jenkins in ninth grade. Jenkins tells of the friends' success at moving from high school to college. Draper adds dialogue and evokes the pivotal moment in each vignette as though it were a scene in one of her realistic novels. The book takes the young men through college and medical school and into their careers. While Jenkins seems relatively calm and serious from the beginning, Hunt found himself in trouble right into medical school. Davis had trouble getting an emergency-medicine internship-and then found himself back in his Newark neighborhood, right where he knew he'd be serving his hometown. The writing here, whether Draper's or the doctors', is simple and accessible and there is plenty of action for reluctant readers. More advanced readers may want to read The Pact (Riverside, 2002), the Three Doctors' joint autobiography for adults.-Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.\ \
