Holly Janquell is a runaway. Wendelin Van Draanan creates a twelve year old character in the story, Runaway, that is stubborn and naive enough to think she can live out in the streets alone, until she is eighteen.She has been in five foster homes for the past two years. She is in foster care because her mother dies of heroin overdose. In her current foster home, she is abused, locked in the laundry room for days without food, and gets in even more trouble if she tries to fight back. Ms.Leone, her schoolteacher, could never understand her, and in Holly’s opinion, probably does not care. No one knows what she is going through, because she never opens up to any one. Ms. Leone gives Holly a journal at school one day and tells her to write …show more content…
In conclusion, Holly rants to Ms. Leone about her current situation in life, but soon she will become “friends” with her through her writing. As Holly’s journey continues, she runs into a few happy moments, and somewhere in between she stops venting too much, and talks to Ms.Leone as some sort of companion. For example, when she finds a school, she is all happy and excited, there is no complaint in the journal entry. She is happy to find the school because she wants to read textbooks and learn as much as she can. Holly does this because she is still holding onto the idea of becoming a vet. Never in a million years would she actually say that to Ms.Leone, but she is able to do it in the journal. Another time she talks to Ms. Leone as a friend is as she watching the sunset at a beach. She starts off by writing a sentence, but suddenly, it turns into a wonderful poem. She asks Ms. Leone “How did that that turn into a poem? Is that a poem?” Holly asks these questions as if they will be answered, and opens up a little more by pouring her heart out into all the poems that she writes. She is starting to realize how much she likes poetry. To sum it up, Holly is finally opening up, because she is soon going to start say stories about her past. Near the end of Holly’s journey, she starts to open up more and write more about her past. For example, she starts to talk a little bit about her mother. Holly knew that her mother
From the first-time read through, the poem gives a basic understanding of the narrative: a daughter telling the audience about her mother’s struggles
Another theme contributing to the story is the obvious parental neglect that takes place in the narrator’s home. The girl makes the distant relationship between her and her
Her future ambitions, she desires the want to complete high school, then carry on to some college or university. At the beginning, James wanted to be a Sign Language Interpreter, however since changed her mind on what she wants to be and do. Still, she wants to learn Sign Language. Also she lives knowing about having two pets, her hedgehog, and dog. This straight A streak, she wants to continue throughout her college or university career. Holly James, a freshman at Buena High School, possess smarts and talent which will benefit her
Sonny has a “rough” time where he finds himself in “jail” for “narcotics trafficking” (208). Skloot reveals how not having a guardian and guidance leads someone to turn to occupations they would have never committed to before. Also, she emphasizes how authority is needed in a child so they may stay in the right path of life. Also, Deborah becomes so upset she cries out for help: “‘...Just being sad and crying to myself..Why, Lord, did you take my mother when I needed her so much?’” (218). Deborah changed from a happy child to someone in desperate need of a parent when she lost her mother. Skloot reveals how the requisite fostering of a parent lifts the children up in awful
(INTRODUCTION)Being abused and neglected should not be occupying a ten year old’s mind. In the the book Ellen Foster written by kaye Gibbons, a young girl undergoes abuse from her alcoholic father after her mother commits suicide. Ellen is then left to fend for herself and along the way she becomes mature and responsible . Eventually she ends up finding herself a loving home and a family to take her in. Being abused and neglected by people who should have loved her , Ellen is traumatized; she ends up fending for herself causing her to become more responsible, and becomes mature.
Tells the reader stories & anecdotes of her fellow workers, including her own unstable, insecure life, taking the reader on some emotional ups & downs throughout the story
The most exciting time of Holly’s life is when she went to Cedar Point and went on roller coasters. The hardest part of Holly’s life is when she applied
Her enthusiasm lasted till lunchtime, fading only when no one came forward to talk to her, to tell her how beautiful she looked that day, to apologize, perhaps, for the late-night phone call. She is so desperate to know who it was. For her this is one in a billion of amazing things that happen to her. Today would be no different at all, she realized. It was just as if nothing had ever happened. What if it never happens again? Thinking to herself she thought that maybe she was sick and this was all just a dream. No one could ever like someone like her, I mean she wasn’t the prettiest and she didn’t have the “perfect
She illustrates that had it not been her mother that obstructed her “I wouldn’t be livin’ like this, you bet. ”(81) and that her dreams could’ve came to fruition. She tells him next how lonely she gets and “I never get to talk to nobody. I get awful lonely.”
In the pages of this book, the readers are transformed from readers to listeners, listening to the troubles and concerns of a close friend. By sharing so candidly her personal beliefs, Williams is able to gain and keep the interest of her readers by allowing them to personally relate to her and the characters she describes.
She had never known her parents. Bounced around from one foster home to another she had seen some pretty terrible things. But the last home she went to was too much for her to bear. Her foster father had sexually assaulted her. After that she decided to take her chances and live on the streets. She only had a year until she would turn 18 and no
The story is written like a diary of Paula Spencer’s good and bad memories in her life and gives the reader the impression that Paula is sharing her life story with us and she is also narrating her life as we read.
This book begins with Foster, a twelve-year-old girl, and her mom leaving their apartment in search of a better life. Fosters mom recently broke up with her wastrel boyfriend, who showed up at their house and attacked her. Foster, along with her mom got in the car and drove to West Virginia where they found a place to stay. One lesson I learned from reading this book is too not take family for granted. In the book, Foster's father passed away while he was serving in the army.
Holly is not sure of whom she is yet. She is constantly reminded of her past although she’s still running from it. It angers her when she is given a dose of stability. She wants to find herself on her own, not through those who’ve gotten to know her for such a short while. She wants her independence and to create her own schedules to go with her own everyday life.
The story is written like a diary of Paula Spencer's good and bad memories in her life and gives the reader the impression that Paula is sharing her life story with us and she is also narrating her life as we read.