Review Of ' Ashes ' By Susan Beth Pfeffer

"When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Thus begins the highly celebrated memoir by the name of Angela's Ashes, written by Frank McCourt. In this book Frank McCourt writes about his childhood, how his parents meet in New York and then decide to return to Ireland. He describes what it is like to be at the bottom of that city's tough social hierarchy, giving vivid descriptions of how class imposes severe limitations and restrictions. It is this topic, this theme, to which I will

The divorce rates nationally are just getting higher and higher year by year. The national average is that 50% of marriages end in divorce (mariage and divorce, 2015). Children who have divorced parents or parents who are going through divorce have more hard times. Some of the reasons of this are because, of the loss of the parent that they are not living

On September 11th 2001, 70 years old Rita Laser lost her brother. Along with Kelly, Colleen, David, Eva, and Amber who as well lost someone special to them in the attack. Many of the victims families hid in silence after the attack, full of sadness, the government was trying to get revenge for the victims that were lost in the attack. However Rita Laser had a different outlook, she and others did not want revenge by killing other, her, Kelly, Colleen, David, Eva, and Amber were all trying to install peace into the world not start a war. In Sue Halpern’s “A Peaceful Mourning” describes that in the aftermath of the attack they have all devoted their lives into advocating peace throughout the world, in their lost one’s name.

When we have strong love for others, we take risks, we go against our beliefs, we put ourselves in danger, and we let our loved ones go. Without love, there would be none of that. In this book, The Dead and the Gone, written by Susan Beth Pfeffer, a comet smashes the moon closer to earth and it creates all sorts of problems. Alex, a teenage boy with two sisters, starts a long journey of survival and risks. This story is so realistic, at times was hard to read. You start to ask yourself these tough questions, like what you would do in a specific situation. Through out the whole story, love is definitely a recurring theme. It shows you how well love can hold a family is distress together.

Ultimately, parents often lack the ability to realize that a majority of divorces may be resolved.

“Ashes” by Susan Beth Pfeffer is about a girl who is caught in a situation in which her father attempts to bribe her to do something immoral. One message suggested in this story is how misdirection and trickery can negatively affect relationships between a parent and their child.

The short story, “Ashes,” by Susan Beth Pfeffer is about a girl, Ashes, who has divorced parents. She is torn between her parents when she is given the opportunity to help her dad, but the twist is she has to steal from her mom to do this. A lesson that is learned from “Ashes” is that someone who normally teaches you to do good may also teach you to do something bad.

A decision is effective no matter what it may be. And Ashleigh, a girl from the short story “Ashes”, has to make a difficult decision. Ashleigh’s parents are divorced, but her father is the more supportive parent, her mother has a more negative attitude. “You’re one in a million.”-Page 2, Her father would tell her. “They’ll laugh at your dreams, even your mother-and she's a saint to have put up with me all those years-even she will discourage you from being all you can be. I hate to speak against her, but she’s not a dreamer, Ashes.”- Page 2, Her father said, explaining how Ashleigh’s mom is. And what he said is true. -“Her name is Ashleigh!” Mom shouted. “A name you insisted on. So why do you call her Ashes?” “That's

“Just a couple hundred bucks and the pieces will fall into place.” {Pfeffer, 2} Ashleigh dad needs $200 to set all of his pieces into place. Ashes parents are divorced and her father was the dreamer in the relationship. Her father got into some trouble with some bad people. Ashey did not take the money from her mother because, her mom was a good role model, she spent more time with her mom, and her father put her into a bad spot between both of her parents.

As we live on through our daily lives, many of us are unaware of what goes around us and never know when something bad will happen to us. The book Ink and Ashes by Valynne E. Maetani tells how a young girl named Claire was thinking differently of her biological father after finding a note that may tell that her father knew he was going to die. After filing an autopsy report of how he died, Claire was starting to be pursued by an unknown person. Understanding the fact that the school board wants to eliminate fiction books from the English curriculum, many of us are against this idea and believe fiction books should stay because these types of books tell what happens when you poke around where you don’t belong, what goes on in daily life, and

“Ashes”, a short story by Susan Beth Pfeffer, shows that when a child may feel stuck in the middle, they may be more vulnerable to confusion and manipulation. The story is centered around a girl named Ashleigh, whose parents recently separated. She lives with her mom, who is a rather sensible woman, and her father who is, as her mom dictates, “an irresponsible bum”, Although it may not always be his fault, Ashleigh’s father seems to struggle with holding his responsibilities and promises, which later creates conflict. The theme that can be generated from the coming of age story, ‘Ashes’, by Susan Beth Pfeffer is susceptibility to manipulation in a separated family.

Often times kids are forced to make decisions wiser than their years. The short story “Ashes” is an example of this. The author, Susan Beth Pfeffer, is one by which I’ve also read another book, Life As We Knew It. I The story “Ashes” is a short story with a easy to read vocabulary and overall a good story about making important decisions. In the story, Ashleigh took the money because of how persuasive and manipulating her father was, her mother wasn’t there or surely Ashleigh would have stopped her, and she was told she’d be paid back.

Angela’s Ashes is an autobiographical memoir written by Irish-American author Frank McCourt. McCourt is the oldest of five brothers and one sister. He along with four of his sibling were born in America in Brooklyn, New York and lived there until he was four and then moved back to Ireland because they had a hard time surviving in America. His family and moved back to Ireland in the midst of the Great Depression finding it hard for his father to get a job because of his alcoholism and his Northern manner. Throughout McCourt’s childhood he was caught in the middle of all the hardships his parents endured. Although, his family endured much struggle, that did not stop them from fulfilling his religious duties, such as First Communion. It also did not stop him and his brother, Malachy from going to school to learn more about their religion. In his early teens, he realized that his father had abandoned his mother and his siblings when he said he would go look for a job. At the age of 14, Frank stopped going to school and got odd jobs to help support his mother and siblings. He remembers his childhood as the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. He himself decided to move back to America when he was 18 to get away from the poverty in Ireland.

In the last two decades divorce has increased substantially leaving couples single and families broken. Divorce is the reality for many families as there is an increase in divorce rates, cohabitation rates, and the number of children raised in step and single marital families. Divorce cannot be overlooked as it negatively affects and impacts youngsters for the rest of their lives. Although it is the decision between two parents’s children are hurt the most in the process. The concept of divorce is extremely difficult for children to understand as there are many unanswered questions and uncertainties. “Will my mom or dad remarry and who will I live with?” are concerns children express while going through divorce. Many

In addition, studies have shown that those who have had first hand experience of a divorce in their home are 38% more likely than to go through their own divorce than those who did not. These children suffer through weakened relationships with nearly all family members, especially those members with whom the child does not visit frequently. Since 90% of custodial parents are mothers (Divorce