What is the most this novel were the varying human connections and relationship that it explored so thoroughly. There was Kimberly and her mother, Kimberly and Matt, Kimberly and Aunt Paula, Aunt Paula and Kimberly 's mother, Kimberly and Annette, etc. All of the relationships felt so real and loved that there was something in each of them that everyone benefitted from. It also loved all of the secondary characters that came along the way and left their marks in Kimberly 's life. we thought that was such an important and powerful aspect of the story - the fact that no matter who comes along in your life, whether you intend for them to be there or not, can impact you in one way or another. Kwok says that: “What a relationship looks like on the outside isn 't the same as what it 's like on the inside. You can be more in love with someone in your mind than with the person you see every day.” All in all, this was a very human and a very insightful read! There were so many noteworthy quotes that found empowering and important. This is a wonderful piece of American literature …show more content…
Mambo in Chinatown follows Charlie Wong’s journey to establish balance between her often seemingly contradictory Chinese and American identities as she trains as a professional ballroom dancer. Twenty-two-year-old Charlie lives in a cramped New York Chinatown apartment with her widowed father and younger sister. With a slew of botched receptionist jobs behind her, Charlie manages to secure a position as a receptionist at Avery Dance Studios. She loves her new job because the dancers remind her of her mother, who had been a star ballerina with the Beijing Dance Academy before immigrating to America with Charlie’s father. However, Charlie must keep her new job a secret from her father, who is wary of any Western conventions, including Western
The story touches on things such as poverty, alcoholism, bullying, abuse, etc. It is an extremely eye-opening, humbling book that shows you that you can change your life around no matter how you were raised. This book is relatable to many people, including children and teenagers who are or may have gone through some of the same things that Jeannette and her siblings did. The theme that most resonated with me while reading the book was alcoholism. It is something that has been a part of my family life for a long time.
I appreciated the different sisters’ stories and perspectives while trying to live their lives as best they could. The way the novel jumps from past to present throughout the chapters is very interesting to me. For instance, Dede was brought back to present day when speaking to the interviewer, but seemed to be “going back into the past after hearing certain things about certain people” (Alvarez 66). She would often change back and forth throughout the chapter, keeping the reader involved with what events were happening during the time. Also, when the interviewer asked questions, “Dede feels as if she cannot carry off her responsibility by talking about the terrible past” but she realizes that this is the best thing to do for her family (Alvarez 65).
This book was absolutely phenomenal. The quirky characters and the close relationships they had with each other pull in the reader. It uses suspense to keep the reader constantly guessing what will happen next. In this book Chris Crutcher confronts many mature themes such as mental illness, racism, suicide, and death, while still being able to keep the book light hearted in many places.
Each event in the story was felt emotionally and gave me insight into the mind of Jeanette (The Main Character). Another reason I think this book is popular is because the story is based off of the authors childhood
In the beginning of the story I extremely enjoyed getting some background about the family. I liked knowing Q’s background and knowing where he lived before he lived in a luxury bus for months to come. Both Angela and Q seemed as happy as the sun on the bus. I also enjoyed how there was some mystery to the story like how Boone showed up in the middle of nowhere without any vehicle or form of transportation whatsoever.
Each character is able to contribute to the story in many different ways, emotionally and physically. Even the quietest characters in the book, such as Theresa Cruz build up the story. Dynamic characters like Paul’s Mom add and make the story more enjoyable. Throughout the book characters show their personality by being
I was rooting for Paige because, she needed to step away from those who projected negativity and spend more time with those who made her happy. I think the night of the crash needed more explanation because sometimes you had to figure out if you read about a certain detail. I would recommend this book to any high school student because it opens your eyes to the fact that drinking and driving can change your life! In the story, there were multiple characters that sounded like myself or someone I know.
This book was interesting for me because it allowed me to relate to a character. I love reading novels that not only allow me to feel a connection with a character, but allow me to relate to their personality or
Mental illness is a complicated and mysterious subject for most of the world. Depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and OCD are a few common mental illnesses. Nancy Xia takes you through her journey with severe depression in the book Leap. She reveals how depression effects her entire life including the lives of the people that love her the most. Throughout this short book, I felt Nancy Xia's pain and despair as well as her parent's stress, love, and sadness.
I personally like the way the females are in my family. It has taught me to be independent and showed me that if I want something, I have to get it myself. Besides that aspect, I do agree with how the Latino culture that was presented in the book. After reading this book, I feel like I have not been as diverse as I have wanted.
Her courage to follow her heart for the one she loves so very deeply. Her change towards the end of the book was all influenced by
Another thing I really liked was the way they made the family characters of mom, dad, and Scott. But my favorite thing was the way that they developed Nick’s basketball skill throughout the story. There is a part in the story where somebody is shot by Zack (Trent’s brother) and Trent has to decide if he’s gonna go into running with him or stay for the big championship game with Nick. So I really enjoyed that part because it combined how much I like basketball and the excitement of whether or not Trent would stay or go. In the book it has dad only caring about Nick as much when he was a good basketball player, so I thought it was cool how they sort of betrayed him as a bad guy.
The story and the characters really stood out to me. They really expressed themselves and the setting in the story was very cool to learn about. I enjoyed the pictures in the book because they guide the reader into the setting and the time period in the book. I recommend this book to people who are interested in learning about World War II and people who are interested in biographies and survival stories. One of my favorite quotes from the book was “A lifetime of glory is worth a moment of pain.”
Consolisa Edmond Professor Sanati English Comp. 102-12 22 March 2017 Analysis of” Trying to Find Chinatown” Shortly after birth, we have our identity written on our birth certificate and we are forever defined by that. The world often defines the people within it, instead of people going off to discover their own identity themselves. Race, ethnicity and other factors like it describe who we are but not represent our identity. In David Hwang’s 1996 play “Trying to Find Chinatown” Hwang considers the role of race and ethnicity in how we identify ourselves and how others identify us.
There 's a subtle wonderfulness to this story. It 's such a relatable story that involves day to day recounts of activities, Kimberly and her mother 's struggles and strives, financially and culturally. Especially from Aunt Paula. Once she said: “You can release your heart, older sister” (148). And another conversation is that “I am too smart to cheat….It