Keyla+M

In Chapter 2 "**HARLEM,** walter talks about how **Harlem** is a magical place, alive with music that spilled on to the busy street from tenement windows and full of colors and smells that filled his senses and made his heart beat faster. Every Sunday mornings a womanwould pick him up to take him to Sunday school, she would ring our bell on 126th street, and they would go through the streets holding hands and singing " **Jesus Loves Me"** on their way to Abyssinian Baptist. After church they would be brought home, again holding hands and singing their way through the streets of **Harlem**. What life was about for Walter in the early years was being with the woman he was learning to call Mama. Walter would always talk about whatever was on his mind and he knew that his Mama was always listening. What Walter loved about **Harlem** was the music. There were radios everywhere, and the little girls jumped double Dutch to Duke Ellington, Cab Calloway, and Glenn Miller. When Walter had enough pennies he would scoop them up and run to the grocer's to buy his favorite colored icy pops, until one day Walter had a stomach ache and went home crying. When Mama got home from work, she put me on the toilet and sat on the edge of the of the bathtub to comfort Walter. Within minutes Walter was being snatched up and rushed to Knickerbocker Hospital. Mama had said that the red liquid passing through my intestines had to be blood. At the hospital the doctors were equally alarmed until a few tests confirmed that Walter had ate too many icy pops that the food coloring was going straight through. It was clear Walter needed more supervision during the day, and Mama found another baby-sitter, who took care of a number of children. This woman had a playground appartus in her backyard, which Walter liked a lot. Walter was told not to play on the climbing bars but he tried them anyways. Walter was the baby of the family and the only boy and got most of the attention which he enjoyed. Walter claimed Mama for my own and was jealous of any attention she paid to her daughters. When Gerry recieved a fancy watch as a present, Walter was annoyed. Walter got hungry and asked Mama for a nickel but she did not reply, once again Walter asked "Can I have a nickel? Mama said "Later Walter, Im busy now. Go play." Then Walter got stubborn and decided to say "I'll break Gerry'a watch." When Walter went into the living room he threw his shoe at the watch but nothing happened, then he threw his dad's shoe at the watch still nothing happened. Walter decided to throw both, his and his dad's shoes at the watch, and made a crack on it. Mama grabbed Walter and took him to a corner, strapped his arms and legs. When Gerry came home from work she wasn't pleased either. Walter was sent to Aunt Nancy's house who lived in downtown New York. Division Street on New York's Lower East Side was a wonderful to Walter as Harlem. There were few black people in the area, but at Walter's age, which was probably five, he was not really aware of racial differences. The end of the chapter mostly talks about Aunt Nancy and how Walter Dean Myers was starting to learn how to read. THE END

__**Chapter 3 starts when Walter begins first grade. He is able to read on a second grade level but, his teacher, Mrs. Dworkin, said that Walter can't speak well enough to be in second grade. Mrs.Dworkin would read to Walter's class until tbhey reached 2nd grade that Walter realized he had a speech problem. A boy named Manuel Bonilla kept making fun of Walter by saying "dabba dabba dabba" in his face. Luckly he stopped when Walter hit him in the face. Walter's punishment was to write "I will never, never hit any student in Public School 125." Later on he moved from 126th street Morningside Avenue. His apartment was between 121st and 122st Streets. When Walter was older he had his own key because his father was in the army.His mother and his 2 step sisters had a job in a garments. I actually thought chapter 3 was a bit confusing because it went from Walter in first grade to him in 2nd and 3rd. **__  Chapter 4 Chapter 4 is about what happened to Walter when he was in 1st grade. A bad boy named Maurice Fleetwood also known as "Bunny" hit Walter in the face because Walter was bullying him. Mama had to take him to the hospital because he didn't feel very well. At first this doctor said he needed laxatives, but then an older lady doctor said his appendix removed. After his appendix were removed he had to read 2 different books, "The Bobbsey Twins atＳｐｒｕｃｅ　Ｌａｋｅ 　ａｎｄ　Ｍｙｓｔｅｒｙ　Ｒｉｄｅｓ　ｔｈｅ　Ｒａｉｌｓ．”　Ｔｈｅ　ｐｒｉｎｃｉｐａｌ　ｓａｉｄ　ｉｆ　ｈｅ　ｉｓ　ａｂｌｅ　ｔｏ　ｆｉｎｉｓｈ　ｒｅａｄｉｎｇ　ｔｈｅ　２　ｂｏｏｋｓ　ｈｅ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｂｅ　ａｂｌｅ　ｔｏ　ｃｏｍｅ　ｂａｃｋ　ｔｏ　ｓｃｈｏｏｌ．　 Chapter 5 That summer Walter met new people like George Myers his biological father In school Walter was always called Walter Milton Myers. The other person he met this summer was Uncle Lee, who was in jail and was soon let out. The building next to Walter's lived a boy named Richard who wasn't very smart and got his eyes hurt from staring at the sun. When Walter was reading in the Amsterdam News about a black man who had been lynched by hanging. Walter had a crazy idea to hang Richard in the church basement. When Walter and Johnny were beginning to hang Richard, a person named Reverend Abbott came along and saw what they were doing. Reverend Abbott told both their moms. When school started Walter started going to the school on 128th street and Amsterdam Avenue. One day at school Walter's teacher, Mrs.Conway, told him to read and Johnny began to laugh. So he threw his books on the floor, therefore this is how he got in trouble already in the fifth grade. Walter got in trouble a couple more times and got the teacher really mad. So she sent Walter to the back of the room. Thats when Walter was able to read his comics because Mrs.Conway wasn't able to see them. However when she did see them she would take out of his hands and tore it into pieces. After a few minutes Mrs.Conway gave Walter a book to read and he read it, Walter ended up liking it and told Mrs.Conway. At the end of the school year Walter got the best grades because he never got to the entire year of the grades. Chapter 6 Chapter 6 was about Walter going to fight Mr.Lasher his teacher, after he tried fighting his WW2 solider teacher, he quickly got sent to the back of the room. Then he takes him to talk personally to his Mama. He tells Mama he is a intelligent negro and that he is so great at reading that he can be moved to the advanced group. His grades improved like they should have been in the first place and got bad grades because the teacher's DAUGHTER told Walter's mom that she was slapping him everyday. I think ths chapter was not really confusing because the author finally discussed a different topic besides the 1 the author always discusses. Chapter 7 Chapter 7 began when Walter's sisters had moved out of the apartment and now are living on their own.Walter was able to have his own room and now had to take more responsibilities.Walter absolutely loved reading, he would comfortably read in his room so that way no one wasn't able to bother him. One day Walter' s mother asked him what he wanted for his birthday, Walter graduated the 6th grade so his mother was able to afford Walter having a party, but Walter had to wait because his birthday wasn't until August. Time has past until one day mama woke Walter up, she told him that sadly his uncle had been killed. Since that happened Walter's dad had been really sad. he would sit alone in the kitchen while Walter and Mama were in the living room. In about a year the sadness kind of faded away from Walter's father. Walter went into 7th and 8th grade learning about slavery. Walter read Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Fin and he also read Little Men. Walter said that "Little Women" was the worst book ever written.At the end of the year his grades were pretty good. Walter was also still taking speech therapy classes.
 * Chapter 3**

Chapter 8 In chapter 8 Walter gets more interested in writing. He would walk around the whole neighborhood just to find something to write about, he never really wrote about his neighborhood so he would write about his neighbors. The boys at the school started a new club, they only wanted to show how tough they were. The "club" decided to take the bus for a try. During their driving, the police came. All the kids scattered and of course Walter was immediatley caught. They were lined up at a local police while a man confirmed them as..."The Kids who Stole the Bus." They waited at school until the police came back, but they didn't. Eric was invited to a party so Eric invited Walter, but Eddie, the birthday boy, did not want Walter at his party because of the color of his skin. This statement really hurt Walter. I thought this chapter was pretty good until it came down to the part where prejudice kicked in.

My neighborhood was very tranquil street. No one was really outside to play. This was because there weren't any kids playing on my street. I wish my best friends were on my street because then we would've been able to have a block party on my street which sounds really cool. My neighborhood gets fun most of the time because thats when all my old friends come outside. When my neighborhood is fun I tend to go back inside at like 8:00 p.m or 9:00 p.m because my parents won't let me stay outside any longer. When all my friends go inside and it's really late, i go to sleep to wake up the next morning to go back outside play with my friends. Even though cars still pass my street not one of those cars have people that im used to seeing. When you drive or walk down my street you will run into 2 hills the first one leads to another street, the second one leads to a parking lot that goes into a Retirement Home in which elderly people look out their window and wave to you. If you keep walking past the Retirement Home you will see a park named, Ceppa Field, this park is the park that the kids in Casmir Pulaski School uses. Well this was my neighborhood and how it is when im outside. P.S even birds are barely outside, but there are squirrels.

Ｗａｌｔｅｒ doesn't want to be afraid of writing poems with people around. Walter had a dream about a girl, and they would be together forever and ever and never be afraid to be smart together. I think Walter is too desperate to tell everyone the smart things he can do.
 * 1) Walter sees alot of homeless people and who can't afford foｏｄ．Ｉｔｈｉｎｋ　ｔｈｉｓ　ｅｘｐｅｒｉｅｎｃｅ　ｔｈａｔ　Ｗａｌｔｅｒ　ｈａｓ　ｈａｄ　ｍｉｇｈｔ　ｍａｋｅ　ｈｉｍ　ｗａｎｔ　ｔｏ　ｗｒｉｔｅ　ａ　ｐｏｅｍ　ａｂｏｕｔ　ｉｔ．
 * 2) Ｗａｌｔｅｒ　ｋｎｏｗｓ　ｈｏｗ　ｔｏ　ｓｐｅｌｌ　ｂｕｔ　ｈｅ　ｄｏｅｓｎ’ｔ　ｋｎｏｗ　ｈｏｗ　ｔｏ　ｓｐｅｌｌ　ａｂｌｅ．　Ｓｏ　Ｍａｍａ　ｓａｉｄ　”ｉｆ　ｙｏｕ　ｔｒｙ　　ｔｏ　ｓｐｅｌｌ　ａｂｌｅ　Ｉ　ｗｉｌｌ　ｇｉｖｅ　ｙｏｕ　ｎｅｅｄ．”
 * 3) Ｊｕｓｔ　ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ　ｙｏｕ　ｍｉｇｈｔ　ｔｈｉｎｋ　Ｗａｌｔｅｒ　ｉｓ　ａ　ｂａｄ　ｌｉｔｔｌｅ　ｂｌａｃｋ　ｂｏｙ　ｈｅ　ｉｓｎ’ｔ　ｈｅ　ａｃｔｕａｌｌｙ　ｄｏｅｓ　ｅｒａｎｄｓ　ｆｏｒ　ａｎｙｏｎｅ　ｉｎ　ｈｉｓ　ｎｅｉｇｈｂｏｒｈｏｏｄ，　ｗｈｉｃｈ　ｔｏ　ｍｅ　ｉｓ　ｋｉｎｄａ　ｎｉｃｅ　ｂｅｃａｕｓｅ　ｅｖｅｎ　Ｉ　ｄｏｎ’ｔ　ｄｏ　ｔｈａｔ．
 * 4) Ｗａｌｔｅｒ　ｂｅｌｉｅｖｅｓ　ｉｎ　Ｈｅａｖｅｏｎ　ｎｏｗ　ａｎｄ　ｓａｙｓ　ｈｉｓ　ｒｅｌａｔｉｏｎｓｈｉｐ　ｗｉｔｈ　Ｇｏｄ　ｕｎｂａｒｅａｂｌｅ．

Chapter 11 <3 Walter began looking for a job, his cousin offered him one but Walter declined. So Walter decided to look for suggestions at school, The guidance counseler told Walter to go to the garment center, Walter wasn't really interested into this job but he took it anyway. Many kids at Walter's school started to think about college. Walter wasn't sure which college to go to because most of them wouldn't accept him because of his skin color. Walter thought of his dream job, first it was to be a lawyer but that was crushed when a family friend reminded Walter of his bad speech problem. He never really thought of writing to be a job. There was one thing Walter was not really happy about, Walter wasn't able to afford college, his family was running out of money. Mama always tried to play the lottery but she never really won a lot of money. Walter's father sometimes would have to work at the dock to make ends meet. Pap's medical also drained their money. Walter was replaced in his old job which infuriated Walter. Successfully Walter found another job at a jewlery store. Walter made $14.00 a week and so Walter decided to buy a typewriter for himself. Walter saved his money and didn't give it to Mama or use it himself. Walter was crushed when Mama said that Walter couldn't buy the typewriter because they didn't have the money for it. Walter never talked to Eric anymore. Mama got depressed and she began to drink and play the lottery. His father decided to help him with the typewriter. Walter didn't like it and Walter stopped going to school and used the typewriter as an excuse. I think this chapter wasn't confusing it was more clear and more fluent.

<span style="color: #00ff00; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Chapter 12 Walter went to see the school consler. She asked Walter why he hasn't been going to school anymore and what he did all day. She told Walter that he has to try harder in order to get in college. When Walter Skipped school he would go on the subway, Central, orthe Hudson River. Walter wrote poems or just walked around. Walter became interested in sports again. That summer Walter to the park to practice, and as he went there one day he saw a man in a fight against three men. Walter didn't even know why, but he decided to help him. With the man's help they chased the attackers off. The three people had been thieves. Walter learned that the man's name was Frank. Frank offered Walter an award, but Walter didn't except. Frank and him walked home together. Mickey and Walter were walking home, when they saw a famous writer. Walter thought the writer was mundane and boring. Walter wanted to be the kind of writer that fainted in a bar after reading a poem and have to be carried home. Walter decided to go to school again, and he lasted 3 weeks before he started to skip again.

<span style="color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 140%;">﻿Chapter 13

<span style="color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">﻿Walter had a huge problem in school. Walter was doing horrible and had to go to the guidance counsler. Walter only went to school because of English. Walter's teacher would give him books to read and tips for his writing. When Walter wasn't at school he would be in a tree reading a book. Walter soon started to want to be like other authors, Walter lost control over his writing, what Walter wrote wasn't good. Frank began to visit Walter, Mama didn't really like Frank, she asked Walter what they did. Walter said they just talked, Frank lived on the streets. Frank became the only friend Walter can really talk to. Once, Mama came to school with Walter, he hadn't been to school lately. When they got there, the guidance counsler told Mama this. They talked in private, their decision was that Walter was a nervous child and an agency had to watch him. They reached this verdict because they thought he was affected from the scarlet fever he had had. It was the only way he could stay in school.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">﻿Chapter 14 <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Walter went to see the agency which kept a close eye on him. A man told Walter he was in trouble, the man informed him of the problems he would have if he didn't go to school, Walter would be sent to Juvenile School. This meeting made Walter want to comit suicide, he was ashamned of himself. Walter was becoming anti-social. Walter was becoming the character in the book his had read. The character was as stoic and detached as Walter, even though he had promised Mama he would be home early. Walter met up with Frank, they talked about what happened at the agency. Walter thought about Frank's life story, his father was an actor/singer. Frank's mother and him had been living a good life until Frank's father died. Then, Frank was being bullied and hos mother wouldn't help him. One time, on the bus, Frank killed, his mother and him were about to be kicked off the bus when the killing happened. Frank was sent to a mental institution for three years. His mother got him out, but it happened again. Frank went back for three more years. Walter and Frank delivered a package. The employer was very mysterious, Walter suspected he was a doper. Mama was very worried when he came home. Walter went to get an examination, he was sent to Dr. Holiday.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Chapter 15 <span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Walter again began to skip school again, the teachers would not call on Walter because he skipped too much. Walter never did homework he would either want to read a book or would have the need to read. Whenever Walter wrote poems he would write about how he feels. His thoughts were unpleasant. Walter went to go see Dr. Holiday, Walter liked her because she was really nice. Dr. Holiday that Walter had trouble seeing colors, then she told Walter to come back again. On his way out, Walter saw a really weird girl, she had her legs crossed and her head in her hands. Walter wondered if he looked like that. At the park, Walter met the gang that beat up Frank, they wanted to fight him again. When they saw that Walter had a knife they backed off, to wait while they got the gun, Walter fled, this really scared him. Walter wen to see Dr.Holiday again, she asked him questions mostly about school and life. Then she asked Walter if he liked being black.

<span style="color: #4c0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Chapter 16 <span style="color: #4c0080; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Walter was able to answer Dr. Holiday's question, you like being black?, Walter's answer was, "Yes, of course. Later when Walter thinks about this more he remembers the "disadvantages." Walter compares it to when someone asks you what you want to be when you grow up. Walter thinks it's different when you become an adult. As being an adult, your choices and decision are different. Walter thinks the question is unfair because he does not know how it feels to be an adult. Walter also thinks that he should not be labeled "black." In that time, most people in his point of view, that were white were powerful and important, Walter didn't think black people had an important role like the whites. Walter decided to call him intellectual instead of his original race. Then as his school work became terrible, he changed his mind about calling himself intellectual.

<span style="color: #f58edc; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 120%;">Chapter 17