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"Look Both Ways" is a book by Jason Reynolds, known for writing books for young adults. His books reach out to kids who are facing issues. The book has multiple short stories, and the stories mention characters from different short stories. All the short stories are connected in some way because they all have the same things in common. The stories share that learning friendship is important and they all go to Latimer Middle School. The stories prove that friendship is important because your friends can always be there to cheer you up and relate to what you're going through.

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Friendship is important because your friends can always be there to back you up and cheer you up when you're going through something rough or relate to what you're going through. Examples that illustrate how this theme is developed are from two stories, "Water Booger Bears" and "The Low Cuts Strike Again". In the story "Water Booger Bears" friendship is shown as important when Jasmine is in the hospital and TJ is there to cheer her up. Jason Reynolds writes, "Her parent's coldness thawed by the one and only TJ, who would show up, crack some jokes, break some ice, and leave some empty potato chip bags next to Jasmine's bed to add to the thirty he'd left in her locker" (9). Jasmine right now is going through a hard time not only is she in the hospital because she has a disease but her parents are also getting a divorce. With TJ by her side to cheer her up, it helps change her mood and not focus on the negative. That's why friendship is important, friends can help uplift you when you aren't feeling great. Another example is shown in the story "The Low Cuts Strike Again" when Bit and his friends make money to get ice cream for his mom. Jason Reynolds writes, "Seconds later, Bit's mother, Ms. Burns, came from the back and was greeted by them- the Low Cuts holding cups of fresh ice cream" (39). For Bit's friends to help make money for Bit to cheer up his mom with ice cream is very nice and considerate of his friends. This is another reason why friendship is important. Bit's mom had cancer and it came back. His friends understand what he is going through and know how hard it can be knowing you're parents have cancer. By doing this it lifts Bit's mom's spirit knowing that she isn't doing so well since she has cancer. That's why friendship is important your friends can relate to what you're going through and help you out with what you're going through.

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In the book "The Low Cuts Strike Again", Bit despite his size will always stand up for his friends and let no one bully them. Jason Reynolds writes, "John John soon you gon' need a walker to be a... walker," Trey said. "John John-" That was the last John John Trey spoke before Bit's fist first went in his mouth so fast fast it knocked him out out in the middle of the crosswalk (24). Bit can be violent and no one would want to mess with him because they know he can beat them up badly. Even if he is violent Bit is a kind-hearted person. He beats up the people who mock or bully his friends. Once he gets home Bit becomes a son and a very caring person to his mom. His violent side is gone and his son's side then comes on. This is another example of why friendship is important, your friends will stand up for you and help you out.

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Jason Reynolds uses symbolism in the story "Water Booger Bears" so we can better understand the depth of their friendship. Friendship flags that Jasmine and TJ give to each other are used as messages of their friendship which are chip bags. Jason Reynolds writes, "Trash, yes. But Jasmine and TJ called them friendship flags. The liter of love" (3). How the novel is set up is set into different short stories. At first, you would think they are different but they are very much alike. They have two main things in common. The first is: that they all go to Latimer Middle School. The Second is that all the stories involve friendship and prove that friendship is a strong thing to have. The stories all have different stories and different ways of how the friends came to be. All the friendships came to be from either having the same struggles and becoming friends because they can each relate to each other or being neighbors and becoming friends. Either way at the end of the stories they all prove that friendship is a powerful thing to have. The friends all end up helping each other out at the end of each story in some way.

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The novel's relevance to today's world is to prove that friendship is important and to keep close friends by your side always. "Look Both Ways" resonates with my experiences because friends can help you out with anything. They can help out with homework that you don't understand. They can also help you catch up with material you messed up when you were absent from school. They can also help you out when you're going through problems like bullying online or in real life. The takeaway from this novel is that friendship is important because it can cheer you up when you are down and help you when you're going through something.