Car Trouble

Car Trouble

I finished reading a great novel titled Car Trouble written by Jeanne DuPrau. This novel is an adventure pack road trip across the nation. The main character, Duff Pringle, is a computer genius that receives a job offer in California. He decides to drive from Virginia to California. In between Virginia and California many events occur.

I will be giving brief events of the story. On route 76, Duff’s Ford Escort breaks down. The car through a rod and the repair takes too long to repair. Duff sells the car for 200 dollars. Through the internet, Duff finds a car that needs to be delivered to St. Louis. In the town, Chipper Crossing, Virginia, Duff meets a hitchhiker that is heading towards California. Duff is skeptical but he accepts the hitchhiker because he will contribute to Duff monetarily. Duff has to deliver a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air. In Kentucky, Duff’s wallet is stolen at a diner filled with bikers. At the end Duff finds out that the hitchhiker, Stu, stole the wallet. Duff arrives at St. Louis. He finds out that the person that he has to return the car to is a fugitive. The daughter is at home. She decides that it is best for her to flee because if not the government would soon become her parental figure. The three guys head towards Albuquerque. Along the way Duff is interested in energy friendly cars. In Oklahoma City, Duff is fascinated by a public bus system that uses soybean as its fuel. Duff is always skeptical about Stu. In Amarillo, Texas, Stu leaves the gang for two hours. Stu tells Duff to take the scenic road instead of the highway. As it turns Stu thought that he saw a man that he owed money to at Virginia. Stu believes that he is being followed. An hour before Albuquerque the car breaks down.

Bonnie’s aunt picks the gang up. The aunt is a writer that is fanatical about the color pink and thinks highly about herself. Bonnie decides not to stay here and go to her other aunt instead in Los Angeles. These guys need a car to get to California. As it turns out the aunt is selling a Toyota that she is not driving anymore. Stu surprisingly comes up with the money. Duff cannot handle anymore. He clarifies, where Stu got that money. As it turns out there was a load of money underneath the trunk located by the spare tire. Duff makes an agreement with Stu to give the money back to Bonnie at the end of the trip. Duff also finds out that the job he was supposed to get is over because the project was not going to go through.

The gang is on the road again. The gang gets chased down by two crooks reclaiming the money. As it turns out these two future prisoners raids the car and searches the gang. The money was actually placed inside a cushion covered by dog barf by Stu. At a truck stop, Stu left the gang with the money. Bonnie finally finds out of why they were being persecuted. Duff and Bonnie arrives to Los Angeles. Bonnie is going to stay with her aunt. Duff spoke to his dad and his dad got him connected with his friend. Duff takes a plane ride to San Jose to get settled. He finds out that Bonnie is pursuing her dream as a singer by singing at a coffee house. Stu calls Duff and informs his that he is working as a chauffer for a rich American in Mexico. Duff also wanted to know Bonnie’s address to send her the money that he kept. The novels ends with Duff remembering that kiss that he gets from Bonnie at the airport.

This story was quite interesting to read. The story caught my interest since the beginning. The story had the combination of cars and roads in which I am quite informed about.

The Chevrolet Bel Air made me impressed. The car lasted from Chipper Crossing, Virginia all the way to New Mexico. This is an over 1,000 mile trip on this car. A un- restored car would have not normally resisted such a trip. The reader could tell that this car was better than the Ford Escort because the car did not even leave the state.

Even though this story is fiction, it impresses how a teenage boy can be able to cross the country. Soon enough I will be turning 17 and getting my license, but this no way means that I will feel capable crossing the country. Traveling the country has many risks like an accident, getting lost or the car breaking down in a deserted area. Just because some one has AAA, this does not mean that they are worry free on the road.

When I read this story I thought Stu was an interesting person. His plan was to hitchhike across the country for the purpose of surfing. This seems quite absurd. I am not a surfer, but if I were Stu I would have been happier surfing in the east coast. Stu also surprised me that he took money that was not his, but he intended to return it. This does not demonstrate that he has a consciousness, but at the same time what is the point of stealing it.

The road trip made me acknowledge that Morristown is a great place to live in. In many of the places that the gang has traveled through there wasn’t any web or phone service. When these guys were in the south west they drove on the road in which they were the only people on it for many miles. It surprised me that the next town over could be over 50 miles away. In Arizona, the gang has to sleep at the town hall of a community because there are not any nearby hotels. If I were on this trip through the southwest I would fuel up the car at every gas station that I see along the way which isn’t many. The benefit of living out west is that the people are much friendlier and there isn’t as much traffic except in Los Angeles.

Duff demonstrates a personality that I take into consideration. He demonstrates confidence in the way how he did not call his parents even when problems occurred, like the Ford Escort breaking down. He also demonstrates awareness in the way how he shifts his computer programming mentality towards experiencing the outdoors. He also turns his timid personality into an amicable person. Thanks to Stu, Duff learns how to interact with people and Bonnie also helps out because Duff does not know how to communicate with girls.

Overall this is a great story to read. Every road trip has its stories, but this story is original. The novel is over “250” pages long and it only feels as if it were 50 pages. As soon as I started reading this book it was like as if I wasn’t reading at all. Duff is a positive role model in which people should read this book to see.

If a Tree Falls at Lunch Period

If a Tree Falls during Lunch Period

The novel If a Tree Falls during Lunch Period written by Gennifer Choldenko is a novel about two seventh graders. The author wrote this novel in the perspective of first person. At every other chapter the story had the same character speaking. This means that one character spoke in all the odd chapters while the other character spoke in all the even chapters.

The story started out in the perspective of Kirsten McKenna. It is the first day of school. Her mom dropped her off and as she was leaving her, she almost crashed into a Nissan 350Z. She met the student that rides in that Nissan. Kirsten arrived late to class on the first day of school. The other student was also late. The teacher, who is quite strict, made these two students and two other students for talking a Saturday detention with him. At the Saturday detention the four students had to help organize the classroom. The other two students that received detention were Brianna and Rory. At the end of the detention, the strict teacher asked where his wallet was. Rory, which Kirsten thought was her best friend, told the teacher to inspect Kirsten’s back bag. Kirsten had no idea where the wallet was. As it turned out the teacher inspected the back bag and found his wallet. Kirsten did not receive consequences for this event. She did tell the teacher that she thought someone had planted the wallet in her back bag. During Lunch, Rory told Kirsten that Brianna put the wallet in her back bag. Brianna made Rory tell the teacher to check Kirsten’s back bag. Brianna happens to be a popular girl. Rory did this act to see if she could join the popular crowd. At home Kirsten’s parents did have some marriage issues.

The second main character happened to be Walk Climpton. This was a special school year for Walk because this was his first year at a private school. He received a partial scholarship to attend this school. Walk happened to be the only African American at this school. He was the student that received the detention along with Kirsten. At this school, Walk only had a good friend at this school which whose name is Mateo. Walk happened to have a cousin whose name is Jamal that enjoyed selling objects. The only parent that Walk had was his mother.

Mateo is a minor character in this story but with a complicated situation. He happened to be incredibly smart. The problem with his life was that Mateo’s mom was Brianna’s cleaning lady. When Mateo did not give Brianna his work to copy, she made Mateo’s mom suffer. Brianna accused Mateo’s mom of stealing, breaking objects and doing disasters while she was the person doing all of these atrocities. Mateo had no other choice, but to surrender to Brianna’s wishes because he did not want to see his mother suffering. Brianna had a huge desire to participate in a school talent show. One time Kirsten wrote an anonymous note to the teacher that Brianna stole Mateo’s work. The teacher saw the note on his desk and it said to inspect Brianna’s back bag. The teacher did see Mateo’s mom work inside of Brianna back bag. This made Brianna be ineligible to participate in the talent show. Mateo was finally able to stop worrying about Brianna.

Walk and Kirsten became great friends. Kirsten was at one time hungry. She went into the garage to eat because that was the place where the junk food was kept. She did not want her parents to see her eating junk food, so she hid. Her parents came into the garage and started arguing. This fight astonished Kirsten because she found out that Walk is her half brother.

Walk also found out about this news in a different way. Kirsten did not tell her parents that she heard the argument. Kirsten did tell her sister, Kippy, about this news. Kippy who is younger than Kirsten called Walk. Kippy told Walk that she was her sibling. At first Walk could not believe it. He went through his mom’s drawer of private information. He found out about this when he saw the last name of McKenna in one of those documents. Walk was angry. He relieved his anger by driving in his mother’s car at the age of thirteen.

Later on in the story, Kirsten’s mom explained why this occurred. Kirsten’s parents had an off and on relationship. During that off relationship Kirsten’s father dated Walk’s mother. The couple broke up and he went back to Kirsten’s mother and decided to get married. When he got married, he found out that both women he had a relationship with were pregnant. The man decided to stay with the women that he married.

Walk’s mother also told more information to Walk. Walk’s middle name, Wilbur, was a name passed on generation through generation through his biological father. His last name, Climpton, happened to be the last name that Walk’s mother decided to give Walk. This surname was the same surname that her friend had. As it turned out he died in the armed forces and he never found out that Walk’s mother gave Walk his last name. Throughout Walk’s whole life until that moment he thought that his father was dead.

At the end Walk happens to react differently about the news. He starts accepting his father. He found out that his father was always looking out for him. Walk’s dad used to see him swim at the YMCA. Walk was not aware of that. Walk also found out that his father paid for the other half of the tuition to be part of this private school. This family started acting like a huge family regardless of race.

This book captured my attention even though the characters were in seventh grade. Normally, when an author has characters in a certain grade, that book is directed towards the audience of three grades. For instance a story about seventh graders is aimed towards middle school children. A story about a junior is aimed towards secondary school students. Overall, this book was not too hard or too easy to read.

Gennifer Choldenko made a great effort in writing this story. Even though the characters switched at every chapter, this story was still fluent. Through her writing, the reader can tell the distinctive way a character speaks or behaves. A story that switches character at every chapter does need a distinction because the reader can get confused that they are reading about a different character.

The three years of middle school are known for drama. This story however has a lot more than just drama. When I was in seventh grade the only type of drama that was common was a problem due to cheating. The word cheating was mostly related to tests and dating. This story had no romance problems instead there were personal problems. An example would be that Walk and Kirsten found out that they were related and Walk was not sure who he really was. It is quite interesting to see an author write about seventh graders in a unique way.

Walk was angry when he found out that Kirsten was his half sister. He had a great reason to be angry. Keeping a secret for thirteen years is absurd. This secret involved Walk. He had a reason to know a long time ago. For thirteen years he was living with the idea that his father was dead. As it turned out, he actually had a father that was alive and he also had a surname that did not correspond to him. This whole problem could have been avoided if Walk would have known about this news when he was young. If Walk would have known this at age five, he would have been more accepting when he heard this news. At age five, Walk would have not understood the whole situation. Hiding a secret from someone that is involved is disrespectful and irresponsible.

Walk and I interestingly enough have similarities. Walk felt uncomfortable at his school because he was the only African American. As the days passed on Walk became comfortable going to school. In fourth grade I had a similar situation. As it turned out I was the only Hispanic in the classroom. In the first couple of days I felt uncomfortable and I was shy. After a month, I thought the class was enjoyable. I was able to make friendships. This also occurred to Walk when he became friends with Kirsten. Walk and I learned that you cannot change who you are, but you can be proud of it.

There is one aspect of the book that I did not like. The title, If a Tree Falls during Lunch Period, was not a great title. At the end of this story there were two references to trees. The first reference was that at Kirsten’s house there was a dead tree. The family was going to replace that tree by growing a new tree. The second reference was on the last page of the story. Walk had to write about a question on the board. If a tree falls and there was no one to hear it, did it actually make a noise? Walk’s answer was yes that the tree would make noise. As a reader I did not see any symbolism to trees. In another great novel, Gennifer Choldenko wrote Al Capone Does my Shirts, the main character found out that Al Capone did his laundry at the end of the novel. This demonstrates that the author connects the title of the book to a situation at the end. The author could improve on constructing titles.

As a writer I would title this book as My Unknown Half Brother. This is not a five star title, but it is better than the original title. The title will attract more readers because it brings a bit of mystery. The reader will read this story more closely because they are waiting for the discovery to occur. Lastly this title would make sense to this story.

The story was entertaining to read. An event occurred every ten pages. This story did not have any boring spots. Each character had a unique personality which was easy to distinguish. As a reader it was clearly visible that the author wrote this to attract a wider audience. The story touched many subjects that children endure at age thirteen. There was some racism involved like when Walk was followed by the owner in a convenience store to make sure he would not steal. Cheating was involved when Brianna took Mateo’s work. There was an accusation when Kirsten was framed for stealing her teacher’s wallet. Deceiving was seen the way how Brianna treated Mateo’s mother. Betrayal occurred when Kirsten’s friend told the teacher to check Kirsten’s back bag. Typical matrimonial problems were visible when Kirsten’s parent’s argued. Bad communication occurred with Kirsten and her parents. As it can be seen each subject that the author touched was an actual important event in this story. As a reader I do recommend people to read this book.

Benito Runs

Benito Runs

Over the last time I have made my blog, I have read a book. The book that I read was Benito Runs written by Justine Fontes. The book’s main character is a teenager named Benito coming home from Iraq.

Benito and his mother and sister wait for his father’s return. Benito anticipated his father to be the same for his arrival as he was for his departure. He expected that his father would play soccer with him. Bowling used to be one of their favorite pass times. Benito and his sister, Armida, enjoyed eating their father’s enchiladas. Most of all Benito enjoyed spending time with his father, Xavier.

When Benito’s father arrived, the family saw an instant change in his mood. The family had a festivity prepared. Instead Benito’s father was serious. This meant that the celebration did not take place. On that same night the former soldier had nightmares. His nightmares were so extreme that his screams woke up the family. From that point onward Benito’s father treated the family differently. He demanded that the house had to be extremely organized. Xavier was very meticulous with the organization. Benito and Armida had to make the bed properly that their father checked with a coin to make sure that the bed was properly made. When Benito’s father’s commands were not accomplished he would yell. Yelling became part of the household. Benito was getting tired of this routine.

Soccer was Benito’s favorite sport. He was the leader of the soccer team. Benito was extremely focused with soccer because that was the way how he did not had to be with his father. Steve happened to be Benito’s best friend and neighbor. Steve always reminded Benito that at the end there will always be a positive side. At school there was a fundraiser. The fundraiser was to buy tickets for a bowling event. Benito was the person who raised the most amount of money.
Everyone in Benito’s family assisted the bowling event. Benito’s father was uncomfortable being in a crowd. As the event occurred, Benito’s father saw a “camel spider” on his shoe. He created an episode in the crowd. Benito’s mother was able to take her husband outside. She told Benito’s father that he was just imagining the camel spider because they do not live in Texas. Benito was embarrassed. At school people teased Benito about the incident. Steve kept reminding Benito that everything will be bound to get better.

The situation at home remained the same. Benito’s father kept yelling and kept demanding perfection. Benito’s teacher gave him a journal to write down his thoughts because it will make him feel better. This teacher saw that there was something wrong with Benito. On one day Benito came home from school and saw that his parents were not home. Armida told Benito that his mom took his father to the VA hospital for treatment. VA stands for veteran’s affairs. Benito made the decision that this was the opportunity for him to run away.

Benito’s destination was his friend’s home in Dallas. He hitch hiked a ride to the bus station. He bought a bus ticket with the money he had by mowing lawns. On the bus trip there was a rest stop. At the rest stop he was mugged. After the mugger received the wallet, he shot Benito. Benito survived, but he was worried about his father finding out. At the hospital Benito saw his father. His father actually apologized to Benito for embarrassing him. He told Benito that at the hospital he went to that he was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. The doctor also recommended Benito’s father to write in a journal his thoughts.

This story was short and sweet to the point which I enjoyed. There are not many books written towards adolescents that are less than 100 pages long. The story was not slow moving. This is why I enjoyed reading it. In the last book I have read it took 100 pages for the story to get moving. When I finished reading this book it felt as if it only took me two pages to finish the book because it seemed that it took me no time reading this story. The story was engaging since the beginning.

I am not a violent person. I say this because it would not sound realistic that Benito would get shot in real life. First off, Benito handed the thief his wallet. Most thieves do not shoot people who have handed them what they want. Thieves do shoot people when people resist handing them what they want. Another point to make is the thief did not check how much money that Benito had in his wallet. In actuality Benito only had cents in his wallet. Shooting someone for a couple of cents is ridiculous. Another point to make is that thieves rarely steal from minors. This is because minors are the people who carry the least amount of money on them. To make the story seem more realistic a gun did not needed to be involved. The author could have better written this part by having the bus driver contacting the police because he saw Benito running away from home and he saw an amber alert about him on the highway.

Xavier did have similarities with the character Melinda Sordino from the novel Speak. Both of them endured post traumatic disorder. Xavier’s post traumatic stress disorder came from participating in the war. Melinda had this because she was violated. Both of them did not enjoyed being in a crowd of people. Xavier became overwhelmed by crowds by being at the bowling alley. Melinda avoided crowds by hiding in the janitor’s closet. They also demonstrated their emotions uniquely. Melinda demonstrated her problems through art. Xavier relieved his emotions by writing in a journal. It is quite interesting on how a teenage girl and a veteran have many similarities.

In the last two books that I have read I saw something interesting. Both stories promoted language arts. In the story the Last Dog on Earth the author promotes reading by having the main character discussing the significance of reading. For instance, that reading requires total concentration. In a television show a person can miss ten minutes of it and still comprehend what the actors are talking about. If the reader misses a paragraph they might lose the whole story because each sentence is crucial. In this story, language arts were promoted by the teacher and VA hospital telling Benito and Xavier to write because it releases the emotions. The reason of why this caught my attention was because I did not find any significance of the authors inserting this into their stories.

To conclude, this novel was a great quick read and a significant story. There are not many stories about the children who have parents in the armed forces. Many people do not realize that these children live life differently than others. Some children lose a parent due to war. Other children have to live with a different parent at home because their parent has changed. These changes in the family might be emotional or physical. The author made the reader realize that children should be grateful for the parents they have because everyone’s parents are different.