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Etched in Sand is a riveting novel that proposes life through danger and strength. Regina Calcaterra details her life story in this novel and how she lived through treacherous moments fearing her life. As a middle child of five, Regina thrived to support her younger siblings, Rosie and Norm, after her two older sisters got away, Cherie and Camille, and took on the role as a mother for them. The five children preserved an abusive childhood because of their cruel, alcohol mother, Cookie, in the streets and shadows of Long Island.
From home to home, school to school, the children had no one but each other. They swore that they would never tell anyone what home life is like just so they could stay together. While avoiding authorities, they could not avoid teachers, for the small time that they were in school. Mistakes happen and some could not be hidden. Foster homes were brutal and painful, especially alone. Rising through her difficulties, Regina explores her past from being a poor, parentless, foster child to a
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As I read the book, page by page I could not put the book down, I was obsessed, discovering new ways they learned to live and preserve through the danger. Regina stayed strong no matter what Cookie or authorities threw are her, she showed them that she lives for herself and siblings and that nothing they do will ever take her strength or love away from them. As in chapter seven, the Calcaterra's are living above a deli, where Cookie has a job. One night Regina came home late, Cookie was unhappy and threw hot oil at her. Regina suffered from brutality but she accepted it and always got right back up. I loved that she thrived and finished high school and proved to those who doubted her that she was able to accomplish anything she set her mind to. The way she carried herself was strong and unique, she always was dedicated to anything she set her mind to, especially college. After reading this novel, I look up to
Working as a teacher serving at-risk four-year-old children, approximately six of her eighteen students lived in foster care. The environment introduced Kathy to the impact of domestic violence, drugs, and family instability on a developing child. Her family lineage had a history of social service and she found herself concerned with the wellbeing of one little girl. Angelica, a foster child in Kathy’s class soon to be displaced again was born the daughter of a drug addict. She had been labeled a troublemaker, yet the Harrisons took the thirty-hour training for foster and adoptive care and brought her home to adopt. Within six months, the family would also adopted Angie’s sister Neddy. This is when the Harrison family dynamic drastically changes and Kathy begins a journey with over a hundred foster children passing through her home seeking refuge.
Baby narrates her story through her naïve, innocent child voice. She serves as a filter for all the events happening in her life, what the narrator does not know or does not comprehend cannot be explained to the readers. However, readers have reason not to trust what she is telling them because of her unreliability. Throughout the beginning of the novel we see Baby’s harsh exposure to drugs and hurt. Jules raised her in an unstable environment because of his constant drug abuse. However, the narrator uses flowery language to downplay the cruel reality of her Montreal street life. “… for a kid, I knew a lot of things about what it felt like to use heroin” (10). We immediately see as we continue reading that Baby thinks the way she has been living her life is completely normal, however, we as readers understand that her life is in fact worse then she narrates. Baby knows about the impermanent nature of her domestic security, however, she repeatedly attempts to create a sense of home each time her and Jules move to another apartm...
I read House of Sand and Fog by Andre Dubus III. This story is one of classic tragedy which also contains a nearly unbearable amount of suspense. It tells a story of the conflict between people of different races who have an inability to understand each other. They each want possession of a small house in the California hills but for very different reasons.
The story began when La Vaughn was just fifteen. La Vaughn described her school life and her two best friends, Myrtle and Annie. Myrtle and Annie had been her friends all throughout her childhood, but now, it seemed that the three friends were drifting apart as their common interests changed. Both Myrtle and Annie had become very involved in a religious youth group that La Vaughn had no interest in joining. La Vaughn felt that the leaders in the religious ...
“Home” is not just a place or thing; it represents where you feel the most safe and secure, where you feel accepted or feel a part of a community, and where you overall feel you belong. However, home can also be the thing that shelters you from the outside world, leaving you unprepared to deal with situations and dangers outside your knowledge. Often in children’s stories, the character must leave their place of security and go on a journey. This is because to grow as a person you must leave what is safe and familiar and venture into the unknown to truly test yourself, and be able to return home with new knowledge and perspective.. This essay will focus on two characters who go through this transformation from leaving their ‘homes’; Bilbo and his hobbit hole in Bags-End, and Meggie and her father, Mo, and her beloved books. Both are attached to their ‘homes’, and feel anxious and lonely without them, Bilbo's and Meggie's journeys are how, when seperated from their homes, they perservere through their insecurities and doubt and become stronger and more self-reliant by the end of their respected texts.
Regina George is a junior in high school who is described as teen royalty. As the leader of her clique referred to as “The Plastics”, she rules the school with her best friends Gretchen Weiners and Karen Smith loyally at her side. The three girls feed off of tearing the other girls in the school down and diminishing them by writing awful rumors and secrets in the “Burn Book”. With her tall and skinny physique, bright blonde hair and good-looks, she uses her sex appeal and superiority to manipulate and victimize the people around her including her family. Regina easily controls her family members. Her mother worships the ground Regina walks on and desperately looks to her for acceptance. Her ability to make other girls at school feel inferior fuels her power, as queen bee Regina is seen as the “it” girl. Everyone wants to look like her, dress like her, and be just like her. She uses her sex appeal to get any guy she wants and dangles them around everyone else to make them jealous.
The thought of her brothers still being in her former home environment in Maine hurt her. She tried to think of a way to get at least one of her brothers, the sickly one, to come and be with her. She knew that her extended family was financially able to take in another child, and if she showed responsibility, there would be no problem (Wilson, 40). She found a vacant store, furnished it, and turned it into a school for children (Thinkquest, 5). At the age of seventeen, her grandmother sent her a correspondence, and requested her to come back to Boston with her brother (Thinkquest, 6).
The home in which a child lives in is suppose to be a place of warmth, love, and protection. A home also offers other important aspects into a child’s life, for instance, self-confidence, pride, and security. If a child does not reside in a home that offers warmth, love, and protection, that child will not feel good about herself or the home in which she lives in. A child wants a home that he or she can be proud of enough to bring home a friend or two. In addition, if a child does not feel safe and secure in his or her home, then she will not posses these qualities in the outside world. Moreover, their lack of security can cause major disruptions and distractions within their everyday routine, like with Sandra. For example, the homes that Lena and Sandra live in illustrate the exact opposite of each other.
The main character in this story is Cassie Logan. She and her three brothers go through an extremely tough time in this story. They go through everything from racist driven petty things to the death of a friend. Cassie's age contributes a lot to this story. Since Cassie is about 10 years old she doesn't fully understand everything that happens and why they happen. This book is written in first person so the reader knows her thoughts and feelings, but not everyone else's. This provides a better grasp on Cassie's inner conflicts.
Home is not a place where you took shelter, were raised up in, an address to, or where you currently live in. Home is family, friendship, comfort, and belonging. With that, comes the journey every individual faces to not only realize this, but also to get to a point where the individual truly feels at home. Which is exactly what Toni Morrison teaches us in her book, Home, through the narration and eyes of Frank Money, the main character. Frank Money is a poor, male, African American veteran that has been placed in a mental hospital. In which, he must escape from in order to save his sister, Cee, from a life threatening danger. While on this journey, Frank learns to grow from his past experiences and memories of his childhood and fighting in
Throughout this heartwarming film Home is not just a goofy, humorous comedy but a strong and meaningful story that sends out a very important and inspirational message to both adults and children. It proves that creating the main point in their characters will prove who they really are. After s series of comic adventures with Tip, Oh comes to understand that being different is part of being human. While he changed her planet and she changed his world the both finally came to understand the true meaning of the word
Olsen, Glenn W., and Mary Lou Fuller. Home and school relations: teachers and parents working together. 4th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2012. Print.
Regina Maywack lived just down the road from me. Before 5th grade I never knew who she was. As the year progressed we got closer and closer. Regina was extremely talented. She was, in my mind, a genius; she loved school and always did well. She was also blessed with athletic ability. Something I respected since most other kids we knew weren't involved in sports. No matter what day it was I always went to school knowing that Regina would be there with a smile on her face. It seemed as though she didn't have a care in the world. There were days I would show up mad at something my parents had done, or at something that hadn't gone my way, and she would just look at me with those honest eyes and tell me to be thankful for the good things.
I absolutely loved this book. I have been following this story ever since Malala Yousafzai was shot and articles about her began to appear on CNN.com. I was always captivated by the way Malala spoke in interviews before she was attacked: I simply loved the sound of her voice and the sight of her face, which seemed to shine with her spirit. She might not think she is beautiful, but to me she is stunning. I adore the bright colors she wears and the liquid wonder of her eyes.