Drown by Junot Diaz

I was floored by this collection of short stories by Junot Diaz. The writing was so raw and left me with sometimes harsh images in my mind. I read the stories out of order - originally choosing ones with titles that seemed to draw my interest. Once I read 4 of the stories, I went back and did some research on the internet and read that some of the stories had the same characters running through them. For instance, I was originally confused about "No Face" until I read that he was the same boy from "Ysrael" who had his face chewed off by a pig. I originally had intention to go back and read all of the stories, but I admit, I still haven't read them all yet.

My favorite story was "Aurora". The narrator pitied her and loved her so much - but I kept questioning what love and even caring meant to the young man. At times he seemed to have so much compassion for Aurora, but the next moment he is hitting her until her ear bleeds. He doesn't seem to know what love is, yet he doesn't turn to Aurora only for sexual relief. I don't know why this story moved me so much. I think it was the hopelessness of the situation. The narrator wanted to help Aurora who had been in juvy, but he needed some help of his own.

The story that shocked me the most was "Drown". I originally thought that the narrator was avoiding Beto because Beto escaped and was able to start a life at college, when it seemed that the narrator was smarter. Mind you, I was shocked when Beto masterbated the narrator - not once, but twice! I started to wonder why this was the story that Diaz chose to name his whole collection after. I think the title of the collection is a great one because all of the characters seem to be drowning in their own lives. However, I couldn't figure out why Diaz named the story "Drown". Was it because the narrator was left to drown in his own world while Beto moved on? Was it because of the brief flashback to the pool?

The other story that I liked was "Boyfriend" because I think it was a great way to discuss loneliness. The idea of this man walking around his apartment trying to trace the steps of his unknown neighbor just so he didn't feel alone, was a really powerful image. He was so desperate for real human contact and yet, once he made actual human contact, it wasn't as fufilling as the shadowing.

Overall, I felt that the characters in these stories were hopeless. They were drug addicts, having sex without protection, lonely and more. I don't know if this is a collection of stories that I would introduce to a classroom of adolescents. I think the stories have value because they open up a world that a lot of people don't experience first hand, but I think it is a book that is more appropriate for an older audience, perhaps college students.

Esperanza Rising

I sat down and finished Esperanza Rising in one day. From the beginning I was curious to see what happened to seemingly spoiled rich girl who loved to listen to the earth with her father. Esperanza was a loving child and it was a delight to watch her mature as the novel progressed. When her father dies and Esperanza and her mother decide to travel to California and with Miguel and his family, Esperanza still thinks that she will be taken care of. "Yes, she thought. They could have a home in California. A beautiful home. Alfonso and Hortensia and Miguel could take care of them and they'd be rid of the uncles." (p. 50) Esperanza had no idea what kind of work was ahead of her - she was still a young girl.

During the scene on the train ride to California, I was reminded of my own childhood. My mother made me a yarn doll when I was a girl. Her name was Mashy and I carried her with me everywhere I went for awhile. At home, her place of honor was being tied to a potato masher that acted as a doll stand. My mother made me the doll not because we didn't have the money, but to show me how to appreciate the simple things. The same year my classmates were getting these fancy pony heads on sticks so we could all pay cowboys and indians (although that is probably a whole separate discussion!). Well, my mom took an old sock, stuffed it with rags, drew eyes on it's face and tied it to an old broomstick. I never even knew the difference!

I was a little disappointed in Ramona, Esperanza's mother. Once she got to America, she seemed to be a strong role model for Esperanza. She was a wealthy woman who gave up her wealth because she didn't want to marry a tyrant and escaped with her daughter for a better life - even though it was a harder life. However, once she got sick, she allowed the depression to wash over her and she seemed to stop trying. She couldn't even fight for her daughter. She just became sicker and sicker until she was hospitalized, leaving her young daughter in the hands of friends to fend for herself. I was proud of Esperanza for not being overwhelmed by her own emotions and for being able to have a goal (save money for her grandmoter to come) and for getting done what needed to be done.

I was, however, disappointed in Esperanza during the scene towards the end of the book where she argues with Miguel (on p. 222). Miguel was appreciative that his life was better in America than it had been in Mexico. He realized that he had no opportunities in Mexico to grow - he would always be pigeon holed as a second-class citizen. In America he knew that he had more of an opportunity to break out of that mold and move forward. Esperanza couldn't see that - she could only complain that life was still hard. And don't get me wrong, some of her arguments were valid, but her life was so much better NOT being in Mexico that she couldn't even see it. She had no hope left in Mexico. Her tyrannical family aggressively took everything away from her and her mother after her father died. And she had things even better than most when her father was alive, but she was lucky that her father was a benevolant land owner. Most people were not so lucky living in Mexico - that is why they fled to America for better opportunities. And it is true that the opportunities weren't always great in America, but they weren't even great for the American people during the Depression.

Overall, I think that this is a great novel to talk about why people come to America hoping for better opportunities, but I still feel that anyone who wants to live in America, should want to be considered an American and live by the American laws and speak English. They don't have to give up their native language or family traditions, but there should be a respect for the country.

Lastly, I thought it was really clever how the chapters were arranged by fruit names. By the end of the novel, Esperanza has come to recognize time not by days or weeks or months, but by which fruit seasons had passed. It all tied back to the image of her lying on the ground listening to heart of the earth with her father and later Miguel.

Sun 2/7/10 Black and White

Black and White by Paul Volponi was a book that really made an impact on me because I tutored a young black man from Newark for several years who used to assist a drug dealer in order to get some extra money. He was a really sweet young man who found himself in some difficult situations. Luckily, there were other circumstances in his life (an educational trust fund set up for him by his late father) so once he got accepted into college, he was able to get out of Newark and start a whole new life for himself. Marcus was not so lucky - he was caught and had to pay the price for his crime.

I was impressed by the maturity of Marcus' character. He really matured throughout the novel and took responsibility for his poor choices. I was disappointed in the character of Eddie who ran away from the consequences of the crime he committed. Both boys were in the car and they both made bad decisions. Marcus was the one who was identified and the one who came from a family with less money. While I was reading this book, I was wondering if Eddie had been the one who had been identified, if Marcus would have acted the same way - avoiding his friend and trying to look innocent. I was also wondering how it would have been different if Marcus was the one who came from money, and Eddie was the one who lived in the projects. Poverty level definitely had something to do with Marcus taking the plea bargain. His mom had to have her sister's put up their houses just to get bail money - they had no extra money for a "good" lawyer. Ms. Torres, the DA, was his only opportunity for representation. He is lucky he got someone who worked out such a short prison term for him. Eddie, on the other hand, held more responsibility in the crime and had a better chance of getting off with out any consequences. I found it interesting that Mr. Parker, a black man, could identify Marcus (who was sitting in the back seat) but not Eddie who was sitting next to him and holding the weapon. I wondered if the victim had been white if he would have been able to identify Eddie and not Marcus.

The different viewpoints and the varying fonts from chapter to chapter was a very clever way to show the two different viewpoints in the novel. This was a way for the reader to experience both boys through their own minds. I think this was also how we could see the division of Marcus and Eddie's friendship. I loved watching Marcus accept the mistakes that he made and face the consequences with a brave face. Eddie, on the other hand, refused to step up and admit his guilt in the crime, and the burden showed on him for everyone to see - including Marcus. "But there was no way he could keep up, dragging everything around with him." Marcus was going off to jail, but he deserved to - he was a good kid, but he made some poor choices. He just got lucky that Mr. Parker didn't die.

Once again, I was happy to see loving "families" represented in a book about teenagers. In The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, Junior had his family and his grandmother and his coach and his team to support him. In this book, both Marcus and Eddie have support, but in slightly different ways. Eddie has a family who loves him (although his father doesn't appear to be able to look him in the eye after he realizes his guilt), and his mother and sister. He also has his relationship with Rebecca and some support from the team. The team, made up of mostly young black men, really support Marcus though - especially X and Moses. Marcus also has his mom and sister, Rose, Jefferson and Coach. I think that Coach would have been more supportive of Eddie too, but Eddie didn't confide in him about anything.

I think this book really brought out the discussion of race/ethnicity. Besides the friendship of "Black" and "White" there are the two security guards, the interracial relationship between Rose and Marcus, the difference in team members on the basketball team --- and many other places to start discussions with a class. I would be interested in what younger readers think about the scene where Eddie accepts St. John's scholarship on the night that Marcus was arrested. Was he right in looking after himself? Or should he have been stronger for his friend? And how deep can friendship really go?