52 pages • 1 hour read
George Jenkins, Rameck Hunt, Sampson Davis, Sharon M. DraperWe Beat the Street: How A Friendship Pact Led to Success
Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | YA | Published in 2005A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Themes
The Power of Friendship
More than anything, We Beat the Street is a testimony to the power of friendship. It is this bond that allows all three boys to attain their dreams of self-actualization. Before they find one another, Rameck, George and Sampson lack a true sounding board, someone who understands the pressure of their respective home environments and the capacity of their minds and passions. If they had pursued the goal of becoming a doctor alone, they might have faltered along the way and failed to find a helping hand to pull them up. They stand by each other as they make mistakes or doubt themselves. It is the pact of doing it together that motivates each one in the end.
Learning Experiences and Education
All three friends are enthusiastic learners with naturally curious minds. Sampson uses a broken bone as a learning experience as a kid. He also learns a great deal from formal and even informal instructors such as Reggie, who guides him in philosophy and meditation. George views school as a sanctuary from a very young age. By the third grade, he is an enthusiastic member of the Shakespeare Club. Rameck experiences some difficulties getting recognized for his abilities but once he is, he thrives, both in academics and the arts.
Second Chances
In their journey towards outstanding professional success, all three friends make errors in judgment. They give into peer pressure, which results in trouble with the law. They lose their temper or their self-confidence. Some of their mistakes are small, like the decision to cut class, while others are much larger, like the decision to drive a car during an armed robbery. Some of the consequences they suffer are severe, like time spent in juvenile detention facilities. None of these mistakes are ultimately the undoing of them, though, because in the end they have each other to confide in, no matter how bleak things may seem or how irreversible a mistake might feel. Ultimately they learn from their errors in judgment.
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