Blog Post #3 Can't Get There From Here

     I have finished reading the book Can't Get There From Here written by Todd Strasser. This book is about 8 kids who are living in the streets. Most of them ran away from home because they didn't like there life at home. The character's names are Rainbow, 2moro, Maybe, Maggot, Tears, OG, Jewel and Country Club. Those aren't their real names but that is what they call each other. They are their nicknames. The theme in this book for me is that living in the streets isn't easy, and so you have to appreciate what you have at home. The title of the book really is a good title for this book because it relates to the whole book and also to my theme.
     One way the book connects to my theme and to the title is because in the book, it said how each day they had to go looking for food. They didn't have no money so they couldn't just go to a store and buy whatever they wanted. Some times they tried to jump people so they could take what ever they had.But most of the times they had to ask the people who are walking in the streets for some spare change. And they would be lucky if the person was kind enough to give them some money. For example on pages 4-7, Maggot, Rainbow, 2moro and Maybe were in front of a Deli called "Good Life", and they saw a man, who was walking unsteadily, and he was drunk, since he was probably at a party since its New Years. Maggot and 2moro thought it was a perfect way to steal his belongings even though he was very big and had muscles. They failed to jump him because the man wasn't that drunk and he fought back to them. The guy was about to hit 2moro and really hurt her until maybe stopped him. Maybe told him he shouldn't hit a girl, saying that they didn't mean it, they only wanted money. Then the drunk guy said they should have just asked, and walked away throwing a handful of change saying "Happy New Year".
      Another way it connects to the theme and title is because the streets are a dangerous place to live in, and there are diseases that you could get and die, so its better to stay home where its safe, or a community home or just somewhere safe. 3 of the 8 kids died, and a dog of theirs also died.. Country Club, (real name is Alexander Wittelson) died at the age of 22 because of liver failure due to chronic alcohol poisoning. 2moro, real name Angel Perez, died at the age of 15, because of strangulation. Rainbow, real name Mary Ellen Golding died at the age 16, because she committed suicide. And
OG's puppy, Lightning, died at 14 months because of malnutrition. On page 173, Maybe said:

"Country Club, 2Moro, and Rainbow were dead. OG was close to dead. Maybe Jewel was as good as dead. And that proved one thing. You couldn't live on the streets."

   I love this book! It's so good and its very realistic. In my opinion,i think your home is the perfect place to stay. This book is a good way to show us that life on the streets isn’t easy and that everyday is a bigger and more difficult challenge when you don’t have a home. The theme could relate to someone who doesn’t appreciate the life they have in a warm home, with food, clean clothes on their back, and an opportunity to be in school, and to consider that many kids don’t have a home, or a good life. Most of the kids in this book had a good reason to run away from home, but maybe running away wasn't a good choice. Maybe there was a better choice or maybe not...



    

Blog Post #2 Favorite Reading Responses

     One of my favorite reading responses is by Helen Albornoz. Helen did a response on the book Before We Were Free by Julia Alvarez.  The reason why i liked her response, was because she told the readers only the important parts of the story. She didn't go into all the details, she only wrote down the important ones. Also when Helen wrote the problems that Anita had, she gave her opinion. She told the readers that Anita would get through that problem because Anita is strong, and she promised herself she wouldn't cry. Helen made the book seem very interesting, and i now want to read the book.

    

      My second favorite reading response is by Romiya Siddique. Romiya wrote a response on the book Every Soul a Star by Wendy Mass. Romiya wrote about how the 3 main characters in the book were different. She mentioned that Ally is a type of girl who doesn't care about what others think about her. She could do anything without worrying what the people would say about her. Another character is the opposite of her. Bree, she only cared about boys and her appearance. the 3rd main character is named Jack. Jack has a very low self esteem in himself. In Romiya's response, she said that she can relate to jack. I like how she actually relates to someone in the book, and mentions it in the response.Relating to a character in your book is a good thing, because it shows that you could actually understand how the person is feeling.

Blog Post #1 Make Lemonade Reading Response:

     The book Make Lemonade written by Virginia Euwer Wolff is a very inspirational book. In this book, there was 2 main characters. One was a 17 year old teenage mother, named Jolly. And the 2nd main character is named La Vaughn. La Vaughn is 14,  and she is trying to save up money for college, so that's why she takes a job as a babysitter from Jolly. Throughout the book  Jolly's and La Vaughn's friendship grows.
     Jolly has a lot of problems in her life. One problem is that she cant provide a good home for her kids. Her house is so filthy, and not a good home for kids. Jolly works hard in her job trying to earn money to support her family and to pay La Vaughn for taking care of her kids. Jeremy and Jilly both have different fathers, and they both left Jolly, leaving her 2 kids to manage on her own. 
     La Vaughn didn't know what she was getting into when she took the job as a babysitter. She thought it was going easy, since she already had a babysitting job before. She didn't know she would be doing a lot of hard work. She ended up potty training Jeremy, cleaning the house, and babysitting for more hours,even though she wasn't getting paid. One day Jolly lost her job, and she wanted to go look for another one, so Jolly took care of her kids for free. The only reason she took the job in the first place was so she can earn money to go to college.
     La Vaughn ended up doing a lot for Jolly. For example, she made Jolly take health classes, in case something happens to her kids. That ended up being very useful because, her daughter Jilly was once close to dying until Jolly saved her life. Another example is that La Vaughn helped Jolly get back into high school since she never graduated. And since there is a day care inside the school, Jolly wont have to be paying anybody to take care of her kids.