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2. My takeaway from the book is that family does not need to be blood related in the book Ruth had a bad relationship with her father and her aunts but she made friends who she viewed better than them and Ruth was friends with Francis in high school but even though Ruth did not talk to her for a long time she was a friend when they met and helped her raise a family. Also Ruth ran away from her home and went to New York but when James went to her home town he met nice people that did not care that she ran away and had black children. What I'm trying to say is that family is who you believe them to be.

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To me this was some of the most sad stuff we have read the grandmother and the mother I could not feel bad enough for them. I can't say that I have been through the same type of situation but from a readers standpoint I felt bad through all the chapters I just read.

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James was talking to his mother's old friend where he found out about his mother's and grandmothers past and his family the Shilskys family history when he got a motel where he was not feeling right so he goes for a walk " This place is lonely. I gotta get out of here. It suddenly occurred to me that my grandmother had walked around her and gazed upon this water many times". He is realizing what his grandmother had been through no friends or family disables and an abusive husband James felt so bad and lonely he could not even cry.

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4. What I find so amusing in these pages were how incredible James became he had every right to go down a different road he even was there for a bit when he was with chicken man but he ended up becoming a writer and him by himself going and learning about his mother's past which is so moving Which is why I did not think it was plausible from going from a smoking delinquent who barely finished high school to a writer with a family.

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In this chapter James is working for a white family and he is having a hard time understanding why he would want this in the book he says " I didn't want to be like them, standing around sipping wine and showing proper manners and acting happy" James is wondering why anyone would want this why he live so bad while there are people living so easily.

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2. James is having a hard time in school because he needs money but his family has so little of it. This is affecting the way he has to live he had to get a job that he did not like. Also his mother had to sell their house and move to Delaware because the house was costing to much and they could not afford it this was life changing for them and made it a lot more difficult because they had to move to a new are not knowing know one and the mother had never done this alone.

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A big experience I shared was when they were moving I was acting like the sisters I was able to convince my mom to not move but it would have been a huge life changing choice they did end up moving which made me remember this. I feel for James he wanting to move to get away from all the trouble in New York I think he made the right choice.

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Health James started living in a very unhealthy environment when his father died he started smoking and drinking and he stopped going to school this was destroying his life. That was not all he was hanging around in bad areas. When he was with chicken man he saw all sorts of things The main one being death. This all happened because he was in a poor unhealthy living situation because the mother was depressed about her husband there was know one to stop James from doing all the bad stuff he did to himself.

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In these pages I have began to learn more about Ruth and she sounds a lot like my mother they were both Jewish growing up but I would not like to share more about it though. James life had been in a lot of secrets that he is just finding out about now that he is older I also learned some stuff about my mothers past when I was old enough which conveys to me a lot.

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Culture in the book the mother Ruth is Jewish she was a huge believer in Judaism. Until she ran away from home and left to new York. Where she deiced to start going to church and she made her kids go to church. It became such a big thing to her that she made it one of two rules education and church.

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"He was the only other man other than my grandfather who ever showed me any kindness in my life, and he did it at the risk of his because they would've strung him up faster than you can blink" This is so crazy to think about because we don't have that type of system where we could kill someone with no consequences just because he is black.

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2. This can get very personal and deep your values alter the text by the experiences one might have and the emotions that can sway the text this depends on the person and how they view the text.

3. The text would be seen very different it different for our time because there is so much less hate and racism in the world then back then and its what people should understand.

4. No what they are talking about its years back we view things differently then back then for example James mother Ruth her boyfriend when she was 15 would be killed just for dating her because he is black but we allow all races to mate.

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3. A significant point in the book is the bus scene where the son wants to save the mother and punches the son of the black panther. I can relate to this wanting to protect your mom.

10.I want to know why the mother is so fine with having so many children and not having any friends and doing it all alone.

8. Whats great about the book are the mood swings they can go from happy to sad to angry in the scene where the mother did not get him he cried and was about to be depressed but then his siblings get there and he runs to them and collapses.

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"I asked when I finally got my tongue back "Its just a purse" she said "Don't worry about i let's just get home." The incident confirmed my fears that Mommy was always in danger." This quote confirms that this was when James realized what the real world was like and how he wanted to take responsibility for his mother.

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The character that we are following James has race as a big thing of their life. He is black but his mother is white so people question why they are different. Also James questions why he looks different to his mother. His mother would always says that it does not matter that we look different from each other and that we are both human beings. James had know idea about race and color he thought wanted to know what color God was but his mother told him that God is the color of water.

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I am not similar to James at all but we do both share that we have a lot of siblings and I do hope for the best of my family like James. From what I see I think that James has been through a lot and I feel bad for him but the mother is a absolute beast she has been through it and is still doing the best she can.