Sam is a 13
year old boy living in Chicago in the 1960's who learned that when you hold a
strong belief you should persevere to achieve your goal no matter what comes at
you. This is the central idea of the book "Rock and the River". Sam's
father is a civil rights activist that follows Dr. Martin Luther King's
non-violent teachings. Many bad things happen to Sam's family and yet they
don't give up, but continue to fight for civil rights. Sam's father was reading
the news paper and was surprised to see a picture of his two sons Sam and his
brother Stick. Stick was coming out of the hospital from getting beaten at a
protest and Sam was next to him. Sam goes to a Black Panthers breakfast meeting
to realize his brother was in the group. In the group they talk about how to
fight for civil rights by peaceful protests. Later Dr. Martin Luther King had
been shot and this was very sad for Sam's
father because he knew Martin Luther King. Sam was worried that his
father might be attacked too. Sam's father did get hurt at a demonstration by
getting stabbed. Sam and his mom were shocked because they thought he might die.
They had to get to the hospital, but had trouble finding a form of
transportation. Sam's brother Stick dies by getting shot by a Police man. On
the day of his funeral one of Sam's friends was going to kill the cop that shot
Stick. She was convinced not to because revenge is not the answer. In the story
Sam pushed toward his goal to work to fight for civil rights Just as his father
and brother before him.
