Merina+S

**In this chapter "Harlem," I read all about Walter's everyday life when he was younger. One thing I read was that when Walter's sisters became teenagers, he didn't like them getting a lot of attention from Florence, their mother. He liked being the baby of the family and getting all the attention to himself. Another thing I read in this chapter was that when Walter asked for something, and he was told no, he threatened to break his sister's new watch and he did it. His mom ended up using "the strap" and whipped him with it which caused him to get welts. So during the day when his mother worked outside, he went to his aunts Nancy's house, and she babysat for him. Him and his aunt Nancy enjoyed being with each other and talked a lot. Those were some of the things I read in the chapter, "Harlem."**
 * Chapter 2: Harlem**

**Chapter 3: Let's hear it for the first grade!** **In this chapter "Let's Hear It For First Grade!" I read all about Walter's school life. When he was about 5 and supposed to be in first grade, he was reading at a 2nd grade level, and almost as big as the 2nd graders, so he was almost put in 2nd grade. He got in trouble a lot in school because a kid Manuel Bonilla had made fun of his speech and would stand in front of him and say "Dabba, dabba, dabba!" Walter hated it when people made fun of him for his speech so he punched him right in the face and Manuel never did it again. Although Walters teacher sent him to the office, and his punishment was to write "I will never, never hit any student in Public School 125," 500 times. When he went on to 2nd grade, he got in more trouble and his teacher didn't like him, because he slapped a kid, and she slapped him, but Mrs. Dodson's daughter told her mom. Then she told Walters mom, and she told the teacher to never hit him again, and she didn't like him that day forward. So she failed him in every class, and Mama beat him that night.**


 * Chapter 4: Arithmetic Summer** **In this chapter I read all about a year of Walter being in school. During his school year he got in trouble because a kid "Bunny" punched him in the eye and he got blamed because the teacher didn't like him. So that day when he went home for lunch he was told to tell his mama that she had to come in to school in the afternoon, but Walter ended up being sick and his mama took him to the hospital. When he was there he told the doctor his belly hurt and that he had eaten all the rest of his Easter candy the day before. The doctor thought he would be fine but the nurse pushed on his stomach, and he screamed so he had to get his appendix taken out. Another thing I read was that when Walter was home during the day and his parents were working, he went out and rode his bike around the block and rushed home and into the house because his father was coming home. While he was lying on the couch his mother lifted the covers and his stomach was oozing blood. They rushed him to the hospital and found his incision got opened and he was bleeding internally. So he had to spend another night in the hospital.**


 * Chapter 5: Bad Boy**


 * In this chapter I read about Walter school year. During his year in Public School 43 in Mrs. Conway's class, he got in trouble alot. One thing he got in trouble for was because he had speech problems so every time he went up to speak in front of the class, he would go to fast and sound strange. So the teacher Mrs. Conway made him read again slower. One boy Johnny Brown would start laughing and so the rest of the class followed along and one day Johnny covered his mouth so he wouldn't laugh, but Walter went up to him and hit his hand that was on his face. He got sent to the closet that day. Another time he saw Johnny laughing again and went and hit him in the back of the head. Walter would always throw books across the room if he was mad for someone making fun of his speech. After a while Mrs. Conway told him he was to sit in the back of the room and not allowed to participate in class activities unless his mom came in too see her. So Walter brought comic books into class and got in trouble for reading those. Mrs. Conway gave him books to read and he soon liked reading and he began to like Mrs. Conway.**


 * Chapter 6: Mr. Irwin Lasher** **In this chapter I read about Walter's 5th grade teacher Mr. Irwin Lasher. Mr. Lasher told him from the start he didn't want to fight with Walter or Walter to get in any trouble. He heard about Walter from his old teachers and old school. After a few days Walter and his class were following Mr. Lasher up the stairs and Walter was behind him. Walter was pretending to kick Mr. Lasher to make the kids in his class laugh untill Mr. Lasher stopped short on the stairs, and Walter actually kicked him. Walter was told to sit in the back of the room for the rest of the day and see Mr. Lasher after class. Walter thought he was only gonna have to show his mom a note from Mr. Lasher. He thought wrong. Mr. Lasher walked with Walter all the way home and talked to his mom about what happened. He said he was a bright boy, but had to work on his behavior. From the on in school Walter was able to miss a day each week of class to go to a speech therapist, he was able to help the slower kids with reading, and let him be in charge of anything that required a leader. At the end of the year with Mr. Lasher, Walter was one of his students of whom he recommended for placement in a rapid advancement class in Jr. High School.**


 * Chapter 7-8: Discussion Questions.**

Chapter 9: Around Your Neighborhood Paper.**


 * Chapter 10:** **5 Interesting Things.** **1) Pap moved in with them and when Mama cooked macaroni and cheese for dinner one night, Pap wouldn't eat it because he said he doesn't eat cheese because cheese if for white trash.** **2) Pap took over Walter's room and at his old house he didn't have a toilet so he used a bucket and then dumped it into the outhouse. So now at Walters house he has a bucket he keeps in his room and then dumps it into the bathroom.** **3) Walter began at Stuyvesant High School and found out it was an all boys school.** **4) Walter wants to find a friend girl or boy, that will share the same passion that he has with reading, writing, and poetry.** **5) Walters told about some of the gangs that are in Harlem. Sometimes they try to pull things like taking an old ladies purse or they rarely have knifes.**


 * Chapter 11: The Garment Center**
 * In this chapter "The Garment Center," I read about things in Walters life that prevented him from doing certain things. For one when he was young he got in a conversation with a man and Walter told him he wanted to be a lawyer when he grows up. The guy told him he couldn't be because his speech problem. His speech problem stopped him from wanting to be a lawyer. Another thing is because he didn't have a lot of money so he couldn't try out for the track team. He got offered to be on the track team, but didn't have the money to buy sneakers and sweats to try out. Those two things stopped him from something he wanted.**


 * Chapter 12: God And Dylan Thomas**
 * In this shapter "God And Dylan Thomas" I read about Walter going back to school and him meeting Frank Hall. He was talking to the guidance counselor and she had asked him what he did all day. Walter didn't answer the multiple times she asked, and then she finally told him "Young man, I expect quite alot of improvement from you. You have this end term and one more year to get yourself together and go on to college. Now report back to your homeroom teacher first and then your class." After that, Walter started to go back to school. Then later on I remebered when Walter was on the courts and saw that a guy was being surrounded by 3 other guys, and they were in a fight. One had a chain, and the other two fought empty handed. Walter went over there and Walter was told to leave before he got his face broken. Walter had hit the guy who spoke to him and the others ran off. Thats when Frank, the victim, thanked him.**


 * Chapter 13: Marks On Paper.**


 * In this chapter I read about some problems Walter has been having in school, and then Mama finds out about the notes Walter has been writing. Walter was given 4 books to read, and then he was told to do a report on them when he was done reading them. Walter handed them in, and the teacher told him about some areas he has to fix. Walter also noticed that school was getting harder, tests were harder. He was having a lot of trouble in math, and basically failing all his tests. Then his notes for getting out of school had been going well, until one morning Mam said she was going to school with him. They talked with the guidance counselor, and Mama was absolutely horrified at what Walter had been doing. Although she was surprised he could even forge her signature that well. So Mama and the guidance counselor came to the conclusion that Walter was able to attend school, as long as he was put in the supervision of a city agency. They agreed but Walter says he was "Officially disturbed."**


 * Chapter 14: The Stranger**
 * In this chapter I read more about Frank and Walters relationship. Frank told Walter that when he was younger he had killed 3 people by stabbing them to death and he got put in a mental institution. Also after that, he told Walter that after he killed the people, he got bailed out by his mom years later, but he didn't remeber anything. He blanked out right after all the trauma. Then Frank told Walter that maybe they could find an apartment and move in together. Walter thought it would be not good because he doesn't have a lot in common with Frank. Also Frank drinks alot of beer, and gets really drunk. Personally, I think that Walter staying friends with Frank, or moving in with him would not be a good idea. I think this because what if Frank gets drunk and tries to hurt or kill Walter. He would also be a really bad influence on him because of past incidents.**


 * Chapter 15: Dr. Holiday**
 * in this chapter I read about Walters visit with Dr. Holiday and what happened afterwards. When Walter visited with Dr. Holiday, he said she was a beautiful black woman, and she smelled good. Although he didn't tell her that. She took tests on him, and complimented him on how bright he was, and about the school he went to. But after, she took the tests, he didn't want to tell her that he couldn't really distinguish colors all that well. Then later on, Walter came face to face with the gang he fought off for Frank again. They pulled out a knife, and so did he. They backed off, and told him to wait there until they got a gun. Walter knew that was idiotic and took off. The next day Walter visited with Dr. Holiday again. She had asked him if he had had sex with a girl yet, and he answered yes. He didn't really, but thought he should say yes because of the way most normal 16 year olds talk, he assumed they already have had sex. The last thing she asked him before he left, was "Do you like being black?" Walter didn't asnwer yet.**


 * Chapter 16: Being Black**
 * In this chapter I read about what Walter thought about being black. When Dr. Holiday asked Walter if he liked being black, he answered "Yes, of course." Walter didn't really like being black. He said that he doesn't really know what it means to be black. Whenever a teacher asked him what he wanted to be when he grew older, he would answer laywer, philosopher, or scientist. He said when he thought of great jobs/careers he thought of white people. His teachers always told him that being bright didn't matter whether your black or white. Walter decided he didn't really want to be black, but rather an intellectual. He knew he couldn't choose to be another race, or white, he had to stay black. So, he choosed to be an intellectual.**


 * Chapter 17: 1954**
 * In this chapter I learned about some of the things Walter is interested in at this point in time of his life. I learned he does actually care about his grades, and what he accomplishes in school. In the text it says ".....and I wanted desperately to make it important even as the other students were just as eager to say that the senior year was not at all significant.....I was still hoping for a miracle." To me that shows that Walter acutally does care and hopes its a miracle and he gets in to college and go on with all the other students. Also I learned that Walter was still attracted to sports. He read alot on Jackie Robinson's legs, the negro league, ect. He is still taken interest in sports. Other than learning about Walter, I learned that Mama really doesn't like Frank. After Walter had brought Frank over to his house and showed him his room, Mama said "He looks so strange." Mama was afraid of Frank. I personally don't blame her because of where he lives and what has happened with him in the past, I don't think he would be a person I would be comfortable around. But althought, Mama still doesn't know if Frank is really a good person on the inside. He could be the nicest person on Earth.**


 * Chapter 18: Sweet Sixteen**
 * In this chapter I read about what has been going on with Walter now that he is 16. Walter was now sorta going to school. Everyday he would get his books and go to Central Park. He had stopped reading and writing officially, so when he went to Central Park, he would just sit there. His parents were also talking now about how Walter just sits in his room, and makes no contact with anyone or doesn't do anything with himself. Then Walter got a call from Frank who had invited him to deliver another package with him. They went to deliver the package, and Frank got attacked again in the subway. Walter saved him, but Frank decided to move to Philedelphia because he kept getting attacked. He said he would stay there until things started calming down a bit. Walter then went to Dr. Holiday, and he told her about the subway incident. She swore she wouldn't speak of it again, but she really told Mama because later on, Mama was questioning Walter when he arrived hime. Walter knew that was going to happen. So then he decided to join the army. They said you couldn't join unless you were 18, and if you were 17 with parents permission. So Walter told them his parents were dead and they let him join. The day he actually joined, he turned 17.**
 * In this chapter I read about what has been going on with Walter now that he is 16. Walter was now sorta going to school. Everyday he would get his books and go to Central Park. He had stopped reading and writing officially, so when he went to Central Park, he would just sit there. His parents were also talking now about how Walter just sits in his room, and makes no contact with anyone or doesn't do anything with himself. Then Walter got a call from Frank who had invited him to deliver another package with him. They went to deliver the package, and Frank got attacked again in the subway. Walter saved him, but Frank decided to move to Philedelphia because he kept getting attacked. He said he would stay there until things started calming down a bit. Walter then went to Dr. Holiday, and he told her about the subway incident. She swore she wouldn't speak of it again, but she really told Mama because later on, Mama was questioning Walter when he arrived hime. Walter knew that was going to happen. So then he decided to join the army. They said you couldn't join unless you were 18, and if you were 17 with parents permission. So Walter told them his parents were dead and they let him join. The day he actually joined, he turned 17.**


 * Chapter 19: The Typist**
 * Walter didn't expect to become a writer, or even think about becoming a writer. Although he did write as a child because he was very passionate about it. He said when he looked at what he thought was "a highly improbable circumstance..." it seems logical that what he's doing, is what he should be doing. Then Walter left the army and was very happy. He didn't really like the army. When he came back, he got other small jobs, but they didn't pay much. So one day he started to write again. He joined a writing club, and entered a contest for writing a children's book. He ended up winning! So he kept on writing and started to publish books after this. Mama was proud and til today, Walter is still a writer.**