Growing and Inch by Stanley Gordon West is a novel about a 18 year old boy trying to keep his family together while at the same time live a senior life. Donny Cunningham is senior at central high school trying to live a normal life. His mother died when he was 14 years old and ever since then his dad has been hard into drinking. With social services after them and having high school to worry about Donny has a lot on his table. When his dad finally gets thrown in jail, Stewy, the youngest kid in the family is taken and sent to live with a foster family. Donny goes to great measures to locate Stewy and go illegally take him. He feels all his work has been done, but his dad is in some money trouble with gangsters out to kill. Even with one life
By: Xander Dell Book: New Kid Author: Tim Green Book genre: Realistic Fiction Quote: “Be careful what you wish for” Summary: A kid named Brock and his dad are moving around because there was a warrant out for Brock's dad and they would kill Brock if he did not turn himself in. When he gets to his new school he gets in a fight then becomes friends with the kid. Brock is only in eighth grade and is a giant for a kid.
Oscar Handlin believes, as he explicates in The Uprooted, published in 1951, that American history is best explained by the immigration, specifically European peasants who journeyed to the United States in the late 1800s and early 1900s, that caused the most drastic change and growth to the country’s political, economic, and social factors. Instead of telling this story in a mainstream historical way including specific dates in chronological order, the author narrates the lives of these voyagers using sentimental information about multiple different themes to show how challenging it was for immigrants to face life in the New World. This strong, emotional tone creates a sympathetic feeling in the reader and shows the passion Handlin has for not only history, but also the peasants’ lives displaced during their struggles. The Uprooted was intended for a common audience of educated people interested in the history of America or immigration and is especially useful for students
Various novels can be classified as “coming-of-age” texts, this means that these are stories about a protagonist’s transition from childhood to adulthood or just growing up even as an adult. These novels show their growth and change in character over the length of the text. Novels such as The Catcher in the Rye by J.D Salinger, The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston are all examples of coming-of-age novels. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God the story is focused on Janie Crawford and her growth over the course of the book.
Rodney Stark, in the book How the West Won, attempts to tell the story of history in a fresh and new way. He believes that history has been corrupted by political correctness. He believes that western civilization is unique and has created itself. Stark believes that we need to stop credited all of the other cultures for modern culture. We credit other cultures because we are trying to seem fair, and we do not want to seem egocentric. Human freedom is one of his main points to prove his thesis. He states that western civilization is the only culture to create human freedom.
The theme of growth and maturity is portrayed heavily throughout The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain which centers on Huck Finn, a rambunctious boy whose adventures with a runaway slave build him into a mature young man. The novel is a bildungsroman because it depicts the development and maturing of a young protagonist. In the first part of the story, Huck is seen as very immature. He struggles between doing what he wants and what society would have him do. On the raft, Huck realizes what his own beliefs are because of the people he meets in his journey. Huck?s biggest transformation is through his relationship with Jim. Although Huck isn?t a wonderful person, by the end of the book he
Mark Twain wrote the novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. At the beginning of the novel, Huck Finn is an immature thirteen year old boy. He goes south on a river with a runaway slave, Jim, trying to leave his old life behind. During the course of the novel, Huck meets many different people who teach him very valuable lessons. Throughout the novel, Huck has changed in several different ways. There are many things that he obtained from these people that will help Huck build the foundation of the person that he will become. He learns what true friendship is, how dependable, and how to be honest.
Rough times at home, dad drinking, problems at school, does this sound like anybody? All this stuff is happening with Doug in the book Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt. Doug who is 14 years old is in a home trying to get through these times. In upstate Marysville, New York in 1968 Doug lives with his abusive Dad who’s an alcoholic, his brother Chris is mean and is being accused of robbing a store, his brother Lucas who is in Vietnam, and his mother who is quiet and passive. The book Okay for Now by Gary D. Schmidt is a fictional story. In the story Schmidt shows symbolism, dynamic changes in characters, and imagery throughout it.
In one’s life, a person goes through a certain processes to mature into an adult. In the book, Crabbe, by William Bell, a teen boy named Franklin Crabbe runs away from his old life which was preventing him from maturing the way he wanted to. Firstly, Franklin Crabbe experiences personal growth while staying in the wilderness. Secondly, Crabbe learns a various number of new life skills which he can use later in the future. Thirdly, Crabbe while being in the wilderness, he developed his independence. The experiences the main character Franklin Crabbe has while in wilderness contributes to his maturity into adulthood.
According to National Geographic, 40% of the Earth today is farmland—soil being manipulated to feed the 7.6 billion human beings on this world. We have taken over this world like ants swarming to a piece of rotting fruit, without much thought to the organisms that have been on Earth long before us. Our lives may be easier in that we do not have to forge for our food or water anymore, but with the stress of today’s world, was the tradeoff worth the natural land? Willa Cather’s novel, O Pioneers! brings attention to the way we choose to use the land, whether it is in our best interests, the land’s, or both. The characters in O Pioneers! demonstrate how in order to maintain a successful relationship with the land we live on, it is necessary to be able to both adapt to the land and mold it to fit our physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
book tells the story of the high school experiences of a fourteen-year-old boy named Scott
Runner by Carl Deuker is a book written to describe the life of a boy named Chance Taylor and his dad. Chance is close to starvation and homelessness. He worries about paying the bills, having enough food to eat, and keeping his home, a small boat named the Tiny Dancer. While out on his usual run around the marina and beach, a man asks him if he would like a job. The man says all he has to do is run. Chance will have to pick up a package along the beach each day. The package will be hidden in the recesses of a rock buried at the foot of a maple tree. He then has to leave it in a locker. The man says the job pays a lot of money. Even though he suspects that he is smuggling drugs, he always completes the job and now has extra money in his pocket to spend at the café
This book is called Forged by Fire, by Sharon M. Drapper. In the book Gerald has to grow up with many challenges. The book takes place in the Hazelwood area. Gerald is a three year old boy who lives with his single mom. Gerald's mom is a major drug addict, she doesn't really take good care of Gerald. If he were to have a “accident”, she would make him keep it in his pants or not change him till the end of the day as a lesson to him. Gerald has many problems to deal with in this book, but the main one is having to deal with Jordan, his mom's husband who abuses all 3 of them, Monique (mom), Gerald, and Angel (sister). But worst of all Gerald has to deal with the fact that Jordan is sexually abusing Angel.
During the 19th century, the United States was rapidly expanding its territories. In 1803, Thomas Jefferson bought the territory known as Louisiana from the French for $15 million dollars. Later in 1845, the United States took control over the Republic of Texas making it an official state. Closely following, the Oregon territory was handed over from the English because of the Oregon Treaty in 1846; soon after Mexico was won in 1848. With all the newly acquired land, immigrants came pouring into the West looking for new opportunities and to change their lives by the promise of the undiscovered land. Three main groups of people moved west to lead new lives; cattlemen, miners, and western farmers made up a majority
The short story, "A Small, Good Thing" by Raymond Carver tells of two American parents dealing with their son's hospitalization and death as the result of a hit-and-run car accident. The insensitive actions of their local baker add to their anger and confusion, yet by the end of the story, leave them with a sense of optimism and strength. With such content, Carver runs the risk of coming across as sentimental; however, this is not the case, and the anguish of the parents and their shock at the situation is expressed with dignity and understatement. It is a story with a broad appeal: the simple prose makes it accessible to a wide audience, while the complex themes and issues make it appealing to the educated reader. Written in Carver's
Gangs are considered a group of people that have a common link together. Gangs are typically ethnically, racially, economically or geographically based. In William Golding 's Lord of the Flies, gangs rise up within the group of boys. William Golding gives us a glimpse of the savagery that underlies even the most civilized human beings. The bullying and group mentality demonstrated in gangs has resemblances to the characters in Lord of the Flies.