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Summary
Summary
Filled with drama, courage, temptation, and, ultimately, triumph, The Pact is the uplifting story of three teenaged boys from broken homes in Newark, New Jersey, who pledged to support one another in realizing their dreams. Despite tremendous difficulties they faced, today two are doctors and one is a dentist.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Jenkins, Davis and Hunt grew up in and around the projects of Newark, N.J., a place decimated by crack. "The sounds of gunshots and screeching cars late at night and before dawn were as familiar to us as the chirping of insects must be to people who live in the country." The three attended high school together in the mid-'80s and made a pact to attend medical school together. "We didn't lock hands in some kind of empty, symbolic gesture... We just took one another at his word and headed back to class, without even a hint of how much our lives were about to change." Against incredible odds the almost complete absence of male role models, a history of substance abuse in two of the families, and even incarcerations the trio made good on their word and now practice medicine. Told in alternating first-person chapters, the story of these young men's struggle has remarkable clarity and insight. In extremely accessible prose, the authors articulate the problems they faced: "On the streets where I grew up, you didn't worry about consequences. If someone disrespected you, you beat his ass. Period," says Hunt; while Jenkins recalls, "Sometimes it felt surreal, walking past the drunks, dealers, and addicts on my way home from dental school with a pile of books." Although it is a memoir (which, by nature, is often self-serving), this book's agenda is far from hidden and its urgency is undeniable: through their pact, Davis, Jenkins and Hunt achieved success, and if they did it, others can, too. Agent, Joann Davis. (May 13) Forecast: Books about male friendship are rare. This fills the void nicely, and should be a strong seller, especially among African-American readers. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Three young black men in the medical professions (a dentist, an emergency-room physician, and an internist) recall an informal pact they made as youths that guided them out of their inner-city Newark neighborhoods and into successful careers. The three take turns describing their particular family situations, which encompass poverty, unstable family lives, drug-addicted parents, gang influence, and minor skirmishes with the law. When they met in high school, they recognized each other as kindred spirits who wanted to overcome the odds but were vulnerable to the negative influence of friends and family. They developed a friendly competition that blossomed into a pact to attend the same university--Seton Hall--and to support each other through the demanding predental/premedical program. In their own voices, these three young men tell a compelling story that will inspire other young people to form and value supportive, long-term friendships. --Vanessa Bush
School Library Journal Review
Adult/High School-This is the collective memoir of three 29-year-old African-American men from broken impoverished homes around Newark, NJ. Davis is an emergency-room physician, Hunt is an internist, and Jenkins is a dentist; each one takes a turn narrating a chapter. As teens, they made a pact to stick together through college and medical school, to help one another reach their goals. The advice they give is to work hard toward your objectives, avoid hanging out with those who will have a detrimental influence on you, and surround yourself with friends who have similar dreams and ambitions. The authors are frank about their mistakes, temporary failures, disappointments, and shortcomings. They started mentoring programs such as Ujima while they were still college freshmen, and today they run the Three Doctors Foundation. Many teens will be captivated by the men's accounts of their childhoods, their families, the street life that threatened to swallow them up, and how they helped one another succeed.-Joyce Fay Fletcher, Rippon Middle School, Prince William County, VA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Test Exceprt for the CMT Test. Excerpted from The Pact: Three Young Men Make a Promise and Fulfill a Dream by Sampson Davis, Lisa Frazier Page, Rameck Hunt, George Jenkins All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| 1. Dreaming Big | p. 5 |
| 2. Home | p. 15 |
| 3. Ma | p. 37 |
| 4. Common Ground | p. 55 |
| 5. Caged | p. 69 |
| 6. A Big Break | p. 81 |
| 7. Hope | p. 93 |
| George on Peer Pressure | p. 99 |
| 8. Summer Odyssey | p. 103 |
