Last Stop on Market Street by Matt De La Pena
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Summary
This story follow CJ and his Nana on a day in their lives. CJ is constantly comparing himself to others on the street and asking his grandma things like why they don't have a car or why he can't have a bike. The two of them load the bus and even here CJ is comparing himself to the older boys on the back that have headphones and music players. His Nana tells him to ask the guitarist on the bus to play a song, and he does. So in that moment CJ is taken into his imagination with bright colors and is relaxed because of the guitarist singing and playing. Finally the bus driver calls out "last stop on Market street" and CJ and his nana get off the bus. He asks his nana why the graffitied area they're in is so dirty. And his nana says being surrounded by dirty helps you see the beauty in things. Then CJ tell his Nana he's glad that they came and his Nana says me too. On the last page it shows CJ and his Nana serving food at a soup kitchen.
Evaluation
I think this story captures exactly what goes through children's heads. They are so full of questions and wonder why everyone is different and might not have what they do. CJ is a very relatable character especially to the right set of young readers. I believe a good unit that this book covers is helping others and focusing on doing what you can with what you have. I also think the other conveys that you don't need to own a lot to be happy without shaming either sides of the social statuses. I personally would not use this book in my classroom because of the younger age level reading it is.
Comments
Post a Comment