3. Group A - edrake25 (Replacement D)

Hi, Edrake25

In my book Watched by Marina Budhos. Naeem is the main character, he is Musilm. He gets in lots of trouble in and out of school. He has a friend Ibrahim, who is a bad influence on him. His parents are pretty strict and only care about his academics. It’s difficult for Naeem to be himself because he always has to worry about something. Naeem got in trouble with the cops and the cops have asked Naeem to watch his own Muslim culture and give us feedback. “Now I swear I see cameras everywhere – on the street poles, clicking inside cars, and Abba, he rolls out his rug, prays in the back of the store”(Budhos 48). 

Hi, Edrake25

In my book Out of Nowhere by Maria Padian, the book is about a small town in Maine flooding with Somali refugees looking for a better way of life. The soccer team gets a jolt of inspiration and outstanding play from their new students who are very talented at the sport. The four Somali guys have a hard time with communication because they're non-English speaking, and that is a struggle for the teammates because communication is key. My characters don't experience that but instead they experience the language barrier and trying to communicate with Americans who speak English while they speak Somali. “I slowed down, pronouncing each word carefully, but he still looked confused.”(Padian 16) this was Tom helping saaed. 

In Refugee by Alan Gratz, my first character Josef’s father got taken by the Nazis and fast forwarding he got released while they were trying to escape Germany, they got on a boat and the captain is saying he'll bring them to the Netherlands, England,Belgium, and France. Josef and his family get brought to France and France gets invaded by the Nazis a few months later and their mom has to decide which child she'd rather keep because one of her two is getting taken away. My second character Isabel, her family and their neighbors go from the outside of Havana to Florida and they get their and can see the coast line the coast guard tries to stop them and one of the kids jump out of their boat to distract the coast guard so Isabel's mom can continue having her baby, after a long and hard process. My final character in my book is Mahmoud, Him and Josef ended up being with each other in Germany and so they became friends and Josef and his mother got taken by the Nazis and ended up dying in the concentration camp. Ruth Josefs sister promises shell help Mahmoud find Hana Mahmouds little sister. 

In my book its hard for my character Isabel it be her on person because she immigrated to Florida and she doesn't speak English so its hard for her to fit in or connect with other people because of the language barrier. She wasn't really defined by anything but people judged her because she couldn't speak English. "And Isabel, she had started sixth grade. It was hard because she didn't speak English yet."(Gratz 307)

Hi cdalessandro25,

Do you think Isabel will learn English because of the pressure she is feeling to assimilate after immigrating to Florida? 

wow, edrake25 does your what if your character did not turn themselves into a punk skater?

Hi Edrake25,

In "The House on Mango Street" by Sandra Cisneros the main character Esperanza deals with hardships and being defined as an immigrant. Esperanza has a hard time not being defined by her culture. There isn't necessarily a moment where she isn't defined by the people around her as an immigrant. "In English my name means hope. In Spanish it means too many letters. It means sadness, it means waiting. It is like the number nine. A muddy color. It is the Mexican records my father plays on Sunday mornings when he is shaving, songs like sobbing" (Cisneros 10).  

In my book "Out of Nowhere" by Maria Padian, it talks about a young man named Tom Bouchard. Tommy was born and raised in Anniston, Maine. And goes to a predominantly white school with very little diversity. Tommy plays Soccer for his school and has made himself a household name with his soccer team. Tommy also has a girlfriend named Cherisse, Cherisse is a shallow and whiny girl, who in addition, Is a narcissist who wants his undivided attention 24/7. We are introduced to a young man named Saeed, Saeed is an immigrant who just recently immigrated to Maine. Saeed is a prodigy in soccer. Saeed is so good, he impresses the likes of Tommy. There is a College volunteer in Saeed's village. Her name is Myla. As the story progresses, we see the development of feelings that Tommy obtains for Myla, which subsequently ends Tommy and Cherisse’s superficial relationship. The story moves on some more, and we see the mayor of the town pass a public letter telling Somalis to stop immigrating to Maine. This causes an outrage in the city, causing protests around the state. It also prompts an investigation into Saeed’s background by journalist John LaVallee, who uses the Somali players’ uncertain official birthdates to question their eligibility for the soccer team. Saeed is promptly removed from the team for an allegation of age discrepancies on his green card, this leads Tommy to suspect a player named Alex Rhode’s father, Alex is on the soccer team. As a storm rages through Enniston, Tom receives news of Donnie’s car accident and hospitalization. At the hospital, he encounters Myla and Samira, who are there searching for the still-missing Saeed. Seeking answers, Tom finds Mr.Aden. Who is the school's cultural liaison. And finds out that he advised the family to leave Enniston. While at Myla’s college campus, Tom finds out about a group called “Stand Up Enniston”, a group opposing the church of the world. Tom gets involved with this group, and finds out that Saeed and Samira are Minneapolis. In a surprising turn of events. Uncle Paul, who used to preach prejudice, speech and bigotry. Shows his support for “Stand Up Enniston” by bringing Donnie in his wheelchair to his event.Somali student Ibrahim delivers a speech during the gathering, expressing camaraderie with his soccer team and acknowledging Tom’s impact on their lives. Reflecting on Saeed’s lasting influence, Tom realizes that Saeed’s presence will continue to be felt in his life forever.

I don't think my characters experience trouble being their own person, in fact, I think its more encouraged than discouraged. But I can see the difficulty of being accepted by society or a group of people. My correlation with this statement is when we see Tom go to Saeed's house to assist him with signing up for the soccer team, and Saeed's family is surprised to see Tom there. "They were all in the kitchen and looked pretty surprised about me being there" (Padian 17)