• What experiences do you share with the characters?

  Honestly I don't share any experiences with the characters because I have never had anyone be races to me.

• In what ways is your family similar or different from those in the book? My family is different from this book because they aren't black or white, they are Hispanic. But my mother is similar to this book by people being races to her at work by white people because she is Mexican.

• What did you learn about a character or group of people that you have not personally experienced? I just learned that no matter if they aren't fully a race they still have that blood in their system no matter if it is just a tiny percentage of black, white or any race. They should not be feeling left out or anything, because that is wrong.

• Race/Ethnicity

  
  

  So the present that is shown in my characters life is Race/Ethnicity, because of the way the family was with Ruth being white. The people in the bus were all black people and they viewed him differently because his mother Ruth was white, so it didn't make him fully 100% black. He is black but he doesn't fit in with other people, like for example in the bus everyone was black. But this shouldn't make him feel left out just because he isn't 100% black, he still has black in his blood. So I find it unfair the way he is feeling. So this experience changed him with a social attitude with racism.

• Give context for your quote. What was happening in the story that made this quote significant? Who was speaking? "If somebody hits you, take your fist and crack em" (pg 9). The person who was speaking was the mother named Ruth. James was just explaining the roles her mother does because his dad would only come around on the weekends.

• Why did this quote stand out to you?

  This quote stood out to me because it's true when someone hits you first, you should hit back because you are defending yourself, you can't be letting yourself, and lastly it's called self defense.

In many parts they kept repeating themselves or the same words on and on. There were many words that kept being used nonstop.

The way the writer's diction reflect on his work meaning wasn't put out in way you can know what his work is about, like the title made me thing something else but once you read the book a little you know why the title goes with the book.

So one of the experiences/memories but it isn't affecting my perceptions of the story just reminds me when my aunt met my uncle and he was black but my aunt as in her mom just wasn't accepting the relationship. My whole family and parents were telling her there's nothing wrong with it and it would always be fights everyday about it until she realized it wasn't a big deal.

The way I value after my perceptions on the text makes me feel sad and upset because no one should be judged over their skin color or be judged for being with someone who is a different skin color. Anyone should be able to be with any person they want at the longest they are happy with each other.

In my opinion, people show their stories because they want to be heard. So people know what they went through, how they were treated, and so they can make a change about it. I also think that if you are going through something similar to a person showing their story, they for sure tell you how they deal with it or what they did to overcome it. So it helps others to know they are not the only ones going through those problems. It just helps someone feel less alone. It also establish empathy in many ways.

In chapter 8 page 66, James was talking about how everyone was starving. ¨ There were so many of us we were constantly hungry, scavenging for food in the empty refrigerator and cabinets ¨. There is many of them with no food or water. They would even hide food from each other because there was not enough for anyone. But anyone would find it because they knew where the hiding spots were for food.

This stood out to me because it is something no one should ever have to go through. It sucks how they are going through that, it will lack you on your health, and everyone should be able to be strong and healthy.

It affects James with their family because James fell into a phase of drugs and was doing crime after his stepfather died. But then he ended up maturing, he was starting to understand every consequence. He also began to start accepting his mother and embracing her.