Fire in the Streets

What means more, shared values or shared blood? Maxie&;s choice changes everything in this acclaimed companion to The Rock and the River.Bad things happen in the heat, they say. Maxie knows all about how fire can erupt at a moment&;s notice, especially now, in the sweltering Chicago summer of 1968. She is a Black Panther&;or at least she wants to be one. Maxie believes in the movement. She wants to belong. She wants to join the struggle. But everyone keeps telling her she&;s too young. At fourteen, she&;s allowed to help out in the office, but she certainly can&;t help patrol the streets. Then Maxie realizes that there is a traitor in their midst, and if she can figure out who it is, it may be her ticket to becoming a real Panther. But when she learns the truth, the knowledge threatens to destroy her world. Maxie must decide: Is becoming a Panther worth paying the ultimate price?