November 27th, 2013
I’ve been reading a book, called “Trouble”, by Gary D. Schmidt. A VERY good author. It’s about a boy named Henry. Henry Smith. He lives in a Town, called Blythbury-by-the-Sea. It was science. The door opened. There stood Henry’s mother. Her face was white. “Franklin was running. He got hit.” Henry just sat there, stunned. Franklin, his brother, the best runner in Blythbury-by-the-Sea, had been hit by a car. They quickly got in the car, and headed for the hospital. Indeterminate Brain Activity. That was the doctors report. Henry walked in and looked at his brother. Where his left arm should have been was a small stump. He threw up. Chay Chouan. That was the name of the kid who had hit Franklin. A Cambodian. He had just come from Cambodia, as a refugee. He was enrolled in the High School there. People had reason to believe that the accident was not an accident. Once, Franklin had gone into the locker rooms with all his friends. There was Chay Chouan. His friends held Chay Chouan, while he punched. That was why everyone was wondering. Was Chay just getting back? Had it really, been an accident?
There was news the next day. The Chouans business had been burnt down. Was it really, an accident? Who had done it? Was it one of the Smiths? Had they been mad at the Chouans, and gotten revenge during the night? Would Franklin Smith, the best runner in Blythbury-by-the-Sea, heal from the accident? Those are the questions everyone was asking. When would the questions stop! What was Henry supposed to say to the people who asked? “Yes, were fine. We don’t even care about the family member missing from our house who’s lying in the hospital with a coma, and all the doctors will report, is “indeterminate brain activity. We’re fine. We’re so fine, we could be America’s Fine Family. Just fine.” ~ That’s actually what he said. 🙂 The answers are, as I’ve read on… Yes, it was an accident. No, it wasn’t one of the Smiths who burnt down the Chouans Business. Will Franklin Smith, the best runner in Blythbury-by-the-Sea heal from the accident?.. That is yet to be answered.
I like the book so far. It’s very interesting, but sometimes hard to follow. It’s realistic fiction, and it shows the racial differences, and the good and bad things that come from them. Cambodians… in the book, the question was: Will you give them more chances because they’re poor refugees from Cambodia, or less because… because. During Chay Chouans trial, his defender brings up a specific situation that he thought was unfair. It was. Louisa Smith (Henry’s older sister) had once gotten to school, and opened her locker. Red paint had exploded from the locker, and ruined her shirt. The school covered the cost for a replacement. ($60.00). The next day, Chay Chouan got to his locker, and when he opened it, the same thing happened. The red paint ruined all the textbooks his family had purchased for him at the beginning of the school year. The expense was not covered by the school. The Chouan family had to purchase a whole new set of books. The total cost, was over $200.00. Much more than the cost of a shirt, right? $140.00 dollars more. Was it the fact that Chay was Cambodian that had stopped the principal from paying for the new books?
