Darkness before dawn
Readers rate it 3.0 (2 on Hardcover)
276 pages · Released 2002 · Simone Pulse
Content report card
Darkness before dawn parent’s guide: what’s inside
LGBTQ+ themes
What it offers
Educational value
A note for parents
This is a serious young adult novel that tackles trauma, grief, and unhealthy relationships with care and nuance. The story involves suicide, sexual assault, and a problematic romantic dynamic, making it appropriate for older teens who can process these themes with maturity. Draper uses the narrative to educate readers about warning signs and the importance of seeking help, ultimately delivering a message of survival and hope rather than glorifying the dangerous elements.
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From the publisher
Recovering from the recent suicide of her ex-boyfriend, senior class president Keisha Montgomery finds herself attracted to a dangerous, older man. Recovering from the recent suicide of her ex-boyfriend, senior class president Keisha Montgomery finds herself attracted to a dangerous, older man.
Shelved under
- Juvenile fiction
- Fiction
- High schools
- Schools
- African Americans
- Rape
- Man-woman relationships
- Reading Level-Grade 9
- Reading Level-Grade 11
- Reading Level-Grade 10
- Reading Level-Grade 12
- Children's fiction
Books in the Hazelwood High series
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ISBN 9780689851346 · Simone Pulse