If I Grow Up Book Report

Caitlin lives an easy life not having to worry about much, as Martin lives with worry if he will be able to go to school or eat everyday. I Will Always Write Back is an autobiography about Caitlin Alifirenka and Martin Granda becoming instant friends after correspondence through letters from country to county. Caitlin was the kind of person who liked to buy clothes and splurge items, but through meeting Martin it changed her completely making her want to help people in need. Caitlin helps Martin and his family through hardship with money, food, and everyday essentials that they need to survive in Zimbabwe.

The sad reality is that society does not take a minute to step out of their shoes and try to understand why someone becomes a gang member. Throughout Barking to the Choir, two common themes that arise is the lack of love, and growing up with a rough childhood. For many, survival becomes the priority, especially if they have siblings to look out for. Thus, gang life is not an ideal choice but rather a lucrative option. Through Rational Choice Theory, it is easy to place blame on the gang member, but the reality is that for a plethora of gang members there was no other

One of the main economic problems that many people, particularly gangs, in Robert Taylor faced was the fact that they didn’t want to trade in their status for entry-level jobs because in many cases, gang leaders made far more than they would have if they worked minimum wage jobs (72). Many of the gang leaders such as J.T. held the false belief that the drug economy was “useful for the community, since it redistributed the drug addict’s money back into the community via the gang’s philanthropy” (115). However, the drug economy is not a stable or lucrative economy compared to your average jobs because it was clearly very hard for people to get ahead in gangs, thus no one ever had a fair shot of earning more money in their life span. Nevertheless, the situation can tend to be a grey area of debate since a lot of the residents did attempt to hold blue-collar jobs but continued to get laid off (60). In this case, the underground economy of drug sales may have been the only choice for residents looking for an income. Another way the gangs play into the economic situation is when there are drive by shootings, in which case parents

DeShawn had the choice not to be in the gangs because there was a bunch of other jobs DeShawn could of had while he was finishing his education. First off, there was a bunch of other jobs that DeShawn could of taking to get money while he was finishing up high school. On page 150 the text states, “Guess you could always get a job at King Chicken.” This job might not be the best job or the highest paying job, but it is a start when you young

Deshawn didn’t have a choice because, he would not have got a better education like on page 89, Ms. Rodriguez says, “It’s not your fault,

Fleisher & Decker (2001), note that there are several factors that can impede a successful integration back into the community when it comes to gang members. First, gangs are comprised of a vast network type system. Within this system there are countless members who become associates, this relationship does not have to include the same crime. The criminal link can be broad and range from misdemeanor crime to severe crime. Further, this is not only a complex network, but a social system where criminal activity is accepted. Therefore, desistance is an obstacle for offenders, especially if they remain in contact with these individuals. Also, gangs do not go away just because key members go to jail or prison. There are always others there to

Furthermore, the book, Youth Gangs in American Society by Randall Shelden, Sharon Tracy, and William Brown (2013) discusses several theories about why people join gangs. One theory that I think especially fits the explanation as to why people join gangs, with regards to this book, is the control/social bond theory. Shelden et al define control/social bong theory as “when a youth’s, bonds or ties, to society are weak or broken, especially with family, school and other institutions, when this occurs, a youth is apt to seek bonds with other groups, including gangs, in order to get his or her needs met”(p 193). I think so many groups in society let this boy down in My Bloody Life, including his family, the school system and even the police. Consequently with his ties to society so weak, he reached out to a gang that gave him a sense of comfort and belonging.

Miranda and her mom live in New York City and the year is 1979. Mom has a boyfriend named Richard who is a lawyer and who has one leg that is a little bit shorter than the other. He visits often and helps Mom prepare for her game show appearance. Miranda said that her favorite book is A Wrinkle in Time, and she carries a copy around with her constantly. Miranda meets the kid who punched Sal one day in school. It's the day everyone was working on their projects for Main Street, the scale model of a city block in Mr. Tompkin's class.

Many times gang members need have someone to encourage them, so they discover who they really are. Luis, an ex gang member, gets a job at Homeboy Industries and is able to provide a shelter for his daughter to live in, “Luis was a human being who came to know the truth about himself and like what he found there” (Boyle 77). The opportunity that Luis was given by Father Greg helped him find himself, he completely changed his life around, he went from selling drugs to working at Homeboy Industries. Gang members need an opportunity to find who they really are and what they can accomplish.

Do you really think anyone that is a part of a gang can ever change their mind and find their way out for a better life? We see this question answered within the novel Always Running. The main character Grillo, as a young child had being bullied with a financially unstable family, Grillo also joins a gang which leads him to drugs and violence, and finally decides to do better and change for good cause he realizes he might be a father. Within the novel Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez, Grillo, the main character changed throughout the story when he is being bullied, joins a gang, and accepts fatherhood.

The rough environment sometimes causes people to join a gang and make easy money, that's what happened to Grillo in the novel Always Running. For instance in Chapter 3 of Always Running Grillo is entering into a life of stealing in order to make easy money. He was introduced to two key figures involved in the world of stealing . “One was Jandro Mares a 30 year old budding entrepreneur, the other guy was Shed Cowager, who was the guy who brought bikes, TVs, stereos, cameras, guns and whatever we could bring to him and paid us cash on delivery”(chapter 3 pg.74).

In the book, Always Running by Luis J. Rodriguez, we learn through the eyes of the author you cannot live life trying to run. It has been said a numerous amount of times that the minute you join a gang, expect to be in it for the rest of your life, and that the only way out of a gang results in death. The choices and experiences that were made by Rodriguez proved that fact wrong. Luis Rodriguez began being a part of gang life around the age of eleven. By age twelve, he had seen as well as experienced robberies, theft, fights, drugs, murders, rape, etc. Rodriguez makes it clear for the readers to grasp the logical and emotional reason that causes youth to become members of a gang. Young minorities like Luis, who grew up in the Barrio, automatically

“ We, are the broken family living on welfare and food stamps, with illegitimate children and school dropouts and gang members. We were the hopeless.” DeShawn wanted nothing to do with the Douglas Disciples, and Terrell wanted everything to do with them. In the book, If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser, DeShawn wanted to graduate high school and stay out of trouble, even though he lived in a project. But DeShawn could not fulfill his plans because his family needed food, and he had a very difficult choice to make.

Many times individuals turn to a gang to escape a life of poverty or financial uncertainty. A sense of hopelessness and desperation can result from being unable to provide the basic necessities. “Young people living in poverty may find it difficult to meet basic physical and psychological needs, which can lead to a lack of self-worth and pride” (Lee, Dean, and Parker 1). Individuals who are faced with a lack of money many times turn to crime if they cannot earn enough at a legitimate job to support themselves or their families. “This partly explains why gangs exist in poor, rundown areas of cities” (Grabianowski 1).

After he gets his schooling over with he can get a better job and it would be very likely he could buy a house instead of having to rent I a bad neighborhood.