Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here
While I read There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz, I had literally had
to keep reminding myself that these children and all of these people are real. The things
that happened to Pharoah and Lafeyette were things that I could never imagine
happening, much less at their young age.
The young children of Horner would make a few extra dollars “offering to watch
people’s cars if they parked on the side streets….” This shows the lack of safety present
in the children’s lives. They spent their early childhood dodging bullets and joining gangs
to, ironically enough, protect them. They looked up to an infamous head drug dealer
named Jimmie Lee. Jimmie Lee’s “very presence and activities ruled their lives.” At the …show more content…
He showed this by one day telling an abusive father, “you don’t give
no kid disrespect.” To me, it is too bad that the only good role model in these kids’ lives
is a drug dealer.
The most astounding part of this book is Pharoah’s drive. Lafeyette had similar,
but he was very impressionable by the influence older gang members had on him. This is
shown by when Pharoah’s friend, Ricky, suggested they take some videos from a video
store. Ricky had a bad reputation and was affiliated with a few gangs. Pharoah told his
brother, “let’s leave them, let’s go home,” but Lafeyette stayed and stole tapes with
Ricky. Pharoah excelled in school, taking part in the school spelling bee, and trying his
best regardless of the embarrassing stammer that only got worse with the troubles of
home life. His compassion was also one of the traits I noticed while reading. A good
example of this is when his goldfish died. Pharoah “cried for three hours when he found
his pets floating belly up in their bowl the night before.”
The only thing that angered me was LaJoe’s lack of determination. She could
tell everyone she was housing in her small, cramped house that there wasn’t room
to keep reminding myself that these children and all of these people are real. The things
that happened to Pharoah and Lafeyette were things that I could never imagine
happening, much less at their young age.
The young children of Horner would make a few extra dollars “offering to watch
people’s cars if they parked on the side streets….” This shows the lack of safety present
in the children’s lives. They spent their early childhood dodging bullets and joining gangs
to, ironically enough, protect them. They looked up to an infamous head drug dealer
named Jimmie Lee. Jimmie Lee’s “very presence and activities ruled their lives.” At the …show more content…
He showed this by one day telling an abusive father, “you don’t give
no kid disrespect.” To me, it is too bad that the only good role model in these kids’ lives
is a drug dealer.
The most astounding part of this book is Pharoah’s drive. Lafeyette had similar,
but he was very impressionable by the influence older gang members had on him. This is
shown by when Pharoah’s friend, Ricky, suggested they take some videos from a video
store. Ricky had a bad reputation and was affiliated with a few gangs. Pharoah told his
brother, “let’s leave them, let’s go home,” but Lafeyette stayed and stole tapes with
Ricky. Pharoah excelled in school, taking part in the school spelling bee, and trying his
best regardless of the embarrassing stammer that only got worse with the troubles of
home life. His compassion was also one of the traits I noticed while reading. A good
example of this is when his goldfish died. Pharoah “cried for three hours when he found
his pets floating belly up in their bowl the night before.”
The only thing that angered me was LaJoe’s lack of determination. She could
tell everyone she was housing in her small, cramped house that there wasn’t room