KDL Recommends

We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Pact Led to Success

ISBN: 0525474072

Title: We Beat the Street: How a Friendship Pact Led to Success

Author: Sampson Davis

KDL Description:

Making a pact to stick together through the rough times in their impoverished Newark neighborhood, three boys found the strength and determination to work through their difficulties in order to make their dreams come true by completing high school, getting through college, and attending medical school together.
Lexile Level: 860
Guided Reading Level: W

Amazon Description:

Sampson, George, and Rameck could easily have followed their childhood friends into drug dealing, gangs, and prison. They came from the tough neighborhoods of Newark, New Jersey, where survival, not schoolwork, was the priority. When the three boys met in high school, they recognized in each other the desire and ability to “beat the street.” They made a friendship pact, deciding together to take on the biggest challenges of their lives: going to college, then medical school. Along the way they made mistakes, faced disappointments, and nearly failed, but by working hard, finding positive role models, resisting negative influences, and supporting each other at every turn, they achieved their goals — and more. Today Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt — who call themselves the Three Doctors — work in the same community where they grew up, helping the people in their neighborhoods. Sampson and Rameck are doctors, and George is a dentist.

In We Beat the Street, revealing anecdotes from the Three Doctors’ childhood, teenage, and young adult years are brought vividly to life by award-winning author Sharon M. Draper. Honest personal remarks from the doctors at the end of each chapter provide context and advice. It is their hope that the compelling story of their extraordinary friendship will inspire readers to form pacts of their own and reach for the stars.