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The Orange Houses
Meet Tamika Sykes?Mik to her friends (if she had any). She?s hearing impaired and way too smart for her West Bronx high school. She copes by reading lips and selling homework answers, and looks forward to the time each day when she can be alone in her room drawing. She?s a tough girl who never gets close to anyone, until she meets Fatima, a teenage refugee who sells newspapers on Mik?s block. Both Mik and Fatima unite in their efforts to befriend Jimmi, a homeless vet who is shunned by the rest of the community. The events that follow when these three outcasts converge will break open their close-knit community and change the lives of those living in the Orange Houses in explosive and unexpected ways.
160 pages, Hardcover
First published March 31, 2009
39 people are currently reading
1450 people want to read
About the author
Paul Griffin
230 books266 followersPaul Griffin lives, writes, and trains dogs in New York City. His previous novel, The Orange Houses, was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults Top Ten, an International Reading Association 2010 Notable Book for a Global Society, a Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Book of 2009, and an Amelia Bloomer Project Award winner.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews
January 20, 2021
I had to read this book for my Book Cart Book Club which is an attempt to get Em, Ory, and I out of our reading comfort zone. This is not what I would have chosen normally and it was a trip. Overall, I thought it was a good story but a very poor execution. I haven’t read any of the author’s other books but from what I have read from reviews, this book was a disappointment. The characters were very unique and had strong personalities that developed throughout the story but we didn’t see very much background on their relationships. It was just assumed that Mik and Jimmi are already good friends but we don’t see that type of conversation or relationship. I think the book needed a stronger connection between the characters and between the characters and the reader. Immediately, I wasn’t connected to any of the characters because the book jumped immediately into the plot rather than give us a description of the character or any personality. Throughout the story, I didn’t have a clear picture of what Mik or Jimmi look like. I had a decent idea for Fatima but it was still hard to picture them. The book also struggled with basic grammar and punctuation. In the beginning, it was hard to follow and didn’t make sense. It improved as the story moved along but overall, it wasn’t strong writing. I gave this book a ⅖ because of the loss of story content. There was no clear conflict that caused the book to struggle and ultimately fail.
December 28, 2011
I was very excited for this one after reading Paul Griffin's Stay With Me. Sadly, this one did not live up to the expectations I had for it.
I was not crazy about this one being told in third person. It made the story very hard to get into as it was so disjointed. The story was also told from 3 POVs, and that was too much for this book. I liked the idea of it, but considering the book was only 150 pages, it was too little for each character.
Most of the characters were great. I had a bit of an issue with Tamika, as to me, it felt like she didn't have the strength and courage to keep going. There was nothing holding her back but her own attitude, and because of that I was not too keen of her. I really liked both Fatima and Jimmi. They were definitely my two favorite characters of the book. Fatima was such a good soul.
There was definitely a plot, but there wasn't much to it in my mind. The characters all had a worthy story to be told, but there wasn't a lot of continuity between the plot points.
This was a book that had a lot of good things about it, but was not executed the best. I had a hard time getting past the writing, as it was just so disjointed that I couldn't get into the story.
I was not crazy about this one being told in third person. It made the story very hard to get into as it was so disjointed. The story was also told from 3 POVs, and that was too much for this book. I liked the idea of it, but considering the book was only 150 pages, it was too little for each character.
Most of the characters were great. I had a bit of an issue with Tamika, as to me, it felt like she didn't have the strength and courage to keep going. There was nothing holding her back but her own attitude, and because of that I was not too keen of her. I really liked both Fatima and Jimmi. They were definitely my two favorite characters of the book. Fatima was such a good soul.
There was definitely a plot, but there wasn't much to it in my mind. The characters all had a worthy story to be told, but there wasn't a lot of continuity between the plot points.
This was a book that had a lot of good things about it, but was not executed the best. I had a hard time getting past the writing, as it was just so disjointed that I couldn't get into the story.
July 19, 2011
Teaser: How doing the right thing can go terribly wrong.
The Orange Houses is a 2010 Best Book for YA, and fits perfectly into the category of Urban Realism. In this quick paced story we meet three New York teens living in the impoverished Bronx. Jimmy, an eighteen year old war veteran who is affectionately called Crazy Jimmy, fifteen-year-old Tamika Sykes, who has been partially deaf for over ten years, and Fatima Esperer, a sixteen year old illegal refugee from an African nation, who has risked everything to come to America in order to bring her sister here become friends and risk everything for one another. Through immigration scares, drug additions, and gang violence these three young people epitomize the best of friendships and human kindness even when the world around them is cruel and unloving. The wonderful theme of this story is simple, yet so necessary in today’s self centered world, and that is this, friendship is the most beautiful project in the world to work on – everything else, no matter how beautiful, simply pales in comparison.
This book will easy grab a young adult’s attention, and make them think about what is truly important in the world.
The Orange Houses is a 2010 Best Book for YA, and fits perfectly into the category of Urban Realism. In this quick paced story we meet three New York teens living in the impoverished Bronx. Jimmy, an eighteen year old war veteran who is affectionately called Crazy Jimmy, fifteen-year-old Tamika Sykes, who has been partially deaf for over ten years, and Fatima Esperer, a sixteen year old illegal refugee from an African nation, who has risked everything to come to America in order to bring her sister here become friends and risk everything for one another. Through immigration scares, drug additions, and gang violence these three young people epitomize the best of friendships and human kindness even when the world around them is cruel and unloving. The wonderful theme of this story is simple, yet so necessary in today’s self centered world, and that is this, friendship is the most beautiful project in the world to work on – everything else, no matter how beautiful, simply pales in comparison.
This book will easy grab a young adult’s attention, and make them think about what is truly important in the world.
May 13, 2011
15 yr old Tamika (Mik) Sykes is partially deaf. She likes to turn off her hearing aid and shut the would out.
18 yr old Jimmi Sixes is a war veteran, trying to find a reason to live
16 yr old Fatima is a refugee from Africa. All she wants is a new beginning and to see the Statue of Liberty.
I didn't connect with these characters. This disconnection has a lot to do with my not believing the Black characters created by Griffin a white author. A characters believability is subjective. When a Black character doesn't feel right, I lack the vocabulary to say way that is, something is simply not ringing true. So I usually stay clear of Black characters created by White authors that don't hit the mark for me, since I can't put into words what doesn't work. My problem with The Orange Houses goes well beyond the characters. I want to take a moment to point out a few things. Maybe people will think twice about throwing out words like authentic so easily.
Fatima is an African refugee. The author never specifies a country. Last time I checked Africa was still a continent. Griffin not naming a country of origin, like what difference does it make, got me thinking about author Chimamanda Adichie recent talk on the danger of a single story.
I thought Fatima had a lot of money for a refugee.
"Fatima gave the man half of what she had left after the boat ride: five hundred dollars. (pg.13)
She finds are way to the Bronx, and the Orange Houses. While exploring her new neighborhood on the first day, Fatima meets Jimmi. He is impressed by the angels Fatima makes out of newspaper. Jimmi decides to introduce Fatima to Mik. I knew eventually the characters might become acquainted but this was too quick. Rather then allow it to happen naturally, Griffin forces the issue. Fatima and Mik become fast friends. I can't believe in a friendship when I question its beginnings.
The author decides to reveal a pivotal moment in the book before the story even begins, Jimmi's hanging. At the beginning of each chapter there is a countdown.
" Bronx West, a high school classroom, a late October Thursday morning twenty-seven days before the hanging"
The author was probably trying to quickly grab and shock readers with the news of a hanging. The countdown did nothing for me. In order for me to be drawn in by a forthcoming act , I have to believe its possible. Hanging - there is so much pain, and loss in that word for Black people. There isn't an altercation or misunderstanding that would make me believe that a hanging would take place in a Bronx as payback or street justice.
Mik goes to a tough school in The Bronx. A girl, named Shanelle is always harassing Mik. It escalates when the new boy, Jaekwon plays attention to Mik, who does her best to avoid Shanelle. When school ends Fatima is always waiting to walk Mik home. One day Shanelle decides its time that she and her crew gave Mik a beat down. Though Shanelle's crew is so memorized by Fatima's origami that they have a change of heart.
"As Mik stepped through the school doors into the front courtyard a rock zipped past Fatima's head. Crew Shanelle rolled up the sidewalk. "Deaf bitch can't get no real friends, she stuck with a Zulu terrorist." Shanelle got in Fatima's face. "You ain't nothin." Fatima reached into her shawl. Shanelle reached for her back pocket, a bulge that said box cutter. Fatima drew her hand from her scarf. A flock of Day Glo butterflies spun in the breeze. In the afternoon light their sequined wings dazzled Sha's posse. The girls fell on the butterflies as if they were spilled pinata candy. "It's newspaper, one girl said. "Painted newspaper." She drew her phone, keyed it for a new entry. "Yo," she said to Fatime, " I got birthday party coming for my niece. We was gonna get a clown, but y'all gonna work it instead. My sistuh got cash money, yo. What's y'all's numbuh?" (pg.97)
After Shanelle's first attack got thwarted by Day Glo butterflies, she tries again a few days later with a new crew.
"Mik headed for the exit. A girl cut her off, flashed a box cutter. Mik spun back for the principals office. Another girl with a box cutter. The only way out was the back door. She ran for it, blasted into the garbage bay. Between the Dumpsters a third girl waited for her. Mik sprinted for the park woods. When she turned back, the three girls had become thirty. All were new recruits, girls not cool enough to be in Sha's previous crew. They were eager to please her with their chains and broken bottles." (pg.113)
Jimmi comes to Mik's rescue. Shanelle's crew gives chase. Mik rides on Jimmi's back to the safety of the train tunnels. The two hide out underground.
So the author wants me to believe that thirty girls armed with box cutters are chasing one girl in the middle of the afternoon. Why is Jimmi the only one who heard all the noise that Shanelle's crew was making. Where is everyone?
Forty- nine mintues before the hanging Jimmi is charged with abducting Mik, its all over the news. I know its unprofessional to use a certain three letters together when talking about a book, but I've never claimed to be a professional, so WTF really. No one sees 30 girls armed with box cutters but they see Jimmi with Mik. I was floored by this.
The people spot Jimmi and Mik as they try and make it to the hospital.
"They came down on him fast, tens of them, seeming like a hundreds as they ripped Mik from him. Pinned against a truck. He broke free with a pair of punches that jacked the men into a fury. Their hatred stunned him. They were his neighbors, his friends. Why now did they kick him? He called out to them by name, and they struck him harder. Somebody kicked the back of his skull. Numbness spread over and through him. String 'im up," said the lead vigilante, some gang banger. They roped him by his ankles, threw the line over the street lamp's arm and heaved him high." (pgs. 128-129)
Griffin was at least smart enough not to have vigilantes (the author's word) hang, Jimmi, the 18 yr old war veteran by his neck. Though I am still wondering where the rope came from. Streetlamps are pretty high. Where was everyone else while this was going on? No one had a cell phone?
Out of the blue vigilantes is ridiculous. Jimmi and Mik are from the same neighborhood. Black men couldn't so easily beat and hang another Black man they know. They know Jimmi's an 18 year old war veteran is trying to kick a drug habit. They know Jimmi's girlfriend had a late term miscarriage and committed suicide while he was still at war. These men know all this and yet they still attack. Unbelievable.
I could continue but I won't. I am not sure of what angers me more this book or the reviews calling it authentic and real. It scares me to think that someone in small town USA, will read The Orange Houses because of one of these reviews and believe its a good literary representation of teen urban life.
18 yr old Jimmi Sixes is a war veteran, trying to find a reason to live
16 yr old Fatima is a refugee from Africa. All she wants is a new beginning and to see the Statue of Liberty.
I didn't connect with these characters. This disconnection has a lot to do with my not believing the Black characters created by Griffin a white author. A characters believability is subjective. When a Black character doesn't feel right, I lack the vocabulary to say way that is, something is simply not ringing true. So I usually stay clear of Black characters created by White authors that don't hit the mark for me, since I can't put into words what doesn't work. My problem with The Orange Houses goes well beyond the characters. I want to take a moment to point out a few things. Maybe people will think twice about throwing out words like authentic so easily.
Fatima is an African refugee. The author never specifies a country. Last time I checked Africa was still a continent. Griffin not naming a country of origin, like what difference does it make, got me thinking about author Chimamanda Adichie recent talk on the danger of a single story.
I thought Fatima had a lot of money for a refugee.
"Fatima gave the man half of what she had left after the boat ride: five hundred dollars. (pg.13)
She finds are way to the Bronx, and the Orange Houses. While exploring her new neighborhood on the first day, Fatima meets Jimmi. He is impressed by the angels Fatima makes out of newspaper. Jimmi decides to introduce Fatima to Mik. I knew eventually the characters might become acquainted but this was too quick. Rather then allow it to happen naturally, Griffin forces the issue. Fatima and Mik become fast friends. I can't believe in a friendship when I question its beginnings.
The author decides to reveal a pivotal moment in the book before the story even begins, Jimmi's hanging. At the beginning of each chapter there is a countdown.
" Bronx West, a high school classroom, a late October Thursday morning twenty-seven days before the hanging"
The author was probably trying to quickly grab and shock readers with the news of a hanging. The countdown did nothing for me. In order for me to be drawn in by a forthcoming act , I have to believe its possible. Hanging - there is so much pain, and loss in that word for Black people. There isn't an altercation or misunderstanding that would make me believe that a hanging would take place in a Bronx as payback or street justice.
Mik goes to a tough school in The Bronx. A girl, named Shanelle is always harassing Mik. It escalates when the new boy, Jaekwon plays attention to Mik, who does her best to avoid Shanelle. When school ends Fatima is always waiting to walk Mik home. One day Shanelle decides its time that she and her crew gave Mik a beat down. Though Shanelle's crew is so memorized by Fatima's origami that they have a change of heart.
"As Mik stepped through the school doors into the front courtyard a rock zipped past Fatima's head. Crew Shanelle rolled up the sidewalk. "Deaf bitch can't get no real friends, she stuck with a Zulu terrorist." Shanelle got in Fatima's face. "You ain't nothin." Fatima reached into her shawl. Shanelle reached for her back pocket, a bulge that said box cutter. Fatima drew her hand from her scarf. A flock of Day Glo butterflies spun in the breeze. In the afternoon light their sequined wings dazzled Sha's posse. The girls fell on the butterflies as if they were spilled pinata candy. "It's newspaper, one girl said. "Painted newspaper." She drew her phone, keyed it for a new entry. "Yo," she said to Fatime, " I got birthday party coming for my niece. We was gonna get a clown, but y'all gonna work it instead. My sistuh got cash money, yo. What's y'all's numbuh?" (pg.97)
After Shanelle's first attack got thwarted by Day Glo butterflies, she tries again a few days later with a new crew.
"Mik headed for the exit. A girl cut her off, flashed a box cutter. Mik spun back for the principals office. Another girl with a box cutter. The only way out was the back door. She ran for it, blasted into the garbage bay. Between the Dumpsters a third girl waited for her. Mik sprinted for the park woods. When she turned back, the three girls had become thirty. All were new recruits, girls not cool enough to be in Sha's previous crew. They were eager to please her with their chains and broken bottles." (pg.113)
Jimmi comes to Mik's rescue. Shanelle's crew gives chase. Mik rides on Jimmi's back to the safety of the train tunnels. The two hide out underground.
So the author wants me to believe that thirty girls armed with box cutters are chasing one girl in the middle of the afternoon. Why is Jimmi the only one who heard all the noise that Shanelle's crew was making. Where is everyone?
Forty- nine mintues before the hanging Jimmi is charged with abducting Mik, its all over the news. I know its unprofessional to use a certain three letters together when talking about a book, but I've never claimed to be a professional, so WTF really. No one sees 30 girls armed with box cutters but they see Jimmi with Mik. I was floored by this.
The people spot Jimmi and Mik as they try and make it to the hospital.
"They came down on him fast, tens of them, seeming like a hundreds as they ripped Mik from him. Pinned against a truck. He broke free with a pair of punches that jacked the men into a fury. Their hatred stunned him. They were his neighbors, his friends. Why now did they kick him? He called out to them by name, and they struck him harder. Somebody kicked the back of his skull. Numbness spread over and through him. String 'im up," said the lead vigilante, some gang banger. They roped him by his ankles, threw the line over the street lamp's arm and heaved him high." (pgs. 128-129)
Griffin was at least smart enough not to have vigilantes (the author's word) hang, Jimmi, the 18 yr old war veteran by his neck. Though I am still wondering where the rope came from. Streetlamps are pretty high. Where was everyone else while this was going on? No one had a cell phone?
Out of the blue vigilantes is ridiculous. Jimmi and Mik are from the same neighborhood. Black men couldn't so easily beat and hang another Black man they know. They know Jimmi's an 18 year old war veteran is trying to kick a drug habit. They know Jimmi's girlfriend had a late term miscarriage and committed suicide while he was still at war. These men know all this and yet they still attack. Unbelievable.
I could continue but I won't. I am not sure of what angers me more this book or the reviews calling it authentic and real. It scares me to think that someone in small town USA, will read The Orange Houses because of one of these reviews and believe its a good literary representation of teen urban life.
July 28, 2010
Three teens with difficult lives form a strange friendship and look for beauty and hope in spite of desperate circumstances. This was a powerful book without easy answers or a happy ending-- realistic in its portrayal of poverty and prejudice.
April 14, 2018
I wanted this book, I remember hearing about it and then seeing it after getting a 20% discount from my favorite new black-owned bookstore was just a perfect invitation to try this out..and its s highly rated Young Adult read about so many heavy issues and themes and while mature it is relatable and easy to read, even suspenseful as you know what will happen from the first page and must follow along to find out how…there will be a hanging and you know who but not yet the why…An interesting read that touches on depression, immigration, suicide, bullying, hormones and attraction and so much more as every page is new and full of something to keep you guessing, thinking and reading..it was refreshing and well written sprinkled with a glimpse at three very different strangers and their stories..
So, the book follows three people:
Mik, a girl who has lost her hearing from a severe bout of meningitis and while having opportunity to restore her hearing she prefers the option to tune out of reality: the noise and negativity and finding her own peace and silence from school and even her family.
Fatima, an immigrant from Africa coming to New York in search of a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and a new life to bring her sister over who remains illegal even though she found a place and a job selling newspapers and teaching Art classes to children aroud the VA hospital
Jimmi, a discharged military veteran who suffered devastating emotional war-related trauma from war in addition to losing his girlfriend to suicide after their child also passed away..He relives his war memories and sadness all the time and while easing his pain with drugs was his way he is trying to clean up and just enjoy life..
Whoa three teens searching for their own form of freedom and it was emotional material but so very intriguing and necessary for readers as you truly empathize with each of them...—The trio intersect lives and their stories culminates in the hanging on Page 128..Agonizingly day by day you rush to get there, find out how and why anyone would hurt sensitive Jimmi and what other twists and turns this book will take on your mind and your heart..Good read for eighth grade and older..I enjoyed this one.
So, the book follows three people:
Mik, a girl who has lost her hearing from a severe bout of meningitis and while having opportunity to restore her hearing she prefers the option to tune out of reality: the noise and negativity and finding her own peace and silence from school and even her family.
Fatima, an immigrant from Africa coming to New York in search of a glimpse of the Statue of Liberty and a new life to bring her sister over who remains illegal even though she found a place and a job selling newspapers and teaching Art classes to children aroud the VA hospital
Jimmi, a discharged military veteran who suffered devastating emotional war-related trauma from war in addition to losing his girlfriend to suicide after their child also passed away..He relives his war memories and sadness all the time and while easing his pain with drugs was his way he is trying to clean up and just enjoy life..
Whoa three teens searching for their own form of freedom and it was emotional material but so very intriguing and necessary for readers as you truly empathize with each of them...—The trio intersect lives and their stories culminates in the hanging on Page 128..Agonizingly day by day you rush to get there, find out how and why anyone would hurt sensitive Jimmi and what other twists and turns this book will take on your mind and your heart..Good read for eighth grade and older..I enjoyed this one.
May 11, 2018
This was a good book. I liked that it was told from 3 points of view and I thought that the story line was good. Despite it's brevity, this book conveyed a compelling tale. I wish the book had more character development and explored more social issues.
October 9, 2025
Sharp as a box cutter. Excellent and brutal.
January 3, 2019
Name: Brandon Dittmann
Book title: The Orange Houses
Personal Response:
I personally thought this book was good. One of the few things I did not like about this book is that sometimes it was very confusing for me to understand. I also did not really like how it seemed to jump around a lot from character to character.
Plot Summary:
I really liked this book because it was very realistic. It is about three teenagers dealing with problems. One has a problem of finding a will to live. Another one of the troubled teenagers is partially deaf and turns off her hearing aids a lot to tune out the world. The last troubled teenager was an African refugee that wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. This book is mainly a book about troubled teenagers trying to face their problems, sometimes even making it worse.
Recommendations:
I recommend this book to those who like dramas. To me, this book seemed like all it talked about was drama. It may be a good book to those who like dramas.
Characterization:
I believe the character that changed the most was Jimmi. He is an 18-year vet. He suffers from PTSD. At the beginning of the book, you can not really tell but throughout the book, it becomes more apparent as the book goes on.
Book title: The Orange Houses
Personal Response:
I personally thought this book was good. One of the few things I did not like about this book is that sometimes it was very confusing for me to understand. I also did not really like how it seemed to jump around a lot from character to character.
Plot Summary:
I really liked this book because it was very realistic. It is about three teenagers dealing with problems. One has a problem of finding a will to live. Another one of the troubled teenagers is partially deaf and turns off her hearing aids a lot to tune out the world. The last troubled teenager was an African refugee that wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. This book is mainly a book about troubled teenagers trying to face their problems, sometimes even making it worse.
Recommendations:
I recommend this book to those who like dramas. To me, this book seemed like all it talked about was drama. It may be a good book to those who like dramas.
Characterization:
I believe the character that changed the most was Jimmi. He is an 18-year vet. He suffers from PTSD. At the beginning of the book, you can not really tell but throughout the book, it becomes more apparent as the book goes on.
May 6, 2019
In spare, evocative prose, the author cycles through three different perspectives in this book: Mik, a young woman with hearing loss who has become emotionally dependent on her ability to shut out the overwhelming world by turning off her hearing aids; Jimmi, a young veteran fighting drug addiction and other personal demons; and Fatima, a teenage refugee living illegally in New York and struggling to adapt to a world unlike anything she's ever known. Over the course of a tumultuous month, the three teens provide each other with unexpected support, but will friendship be enough to help them survive?
January 28, 2022
A brief and powerful story of three teens, each on the margins of society for a different reason, first finding connection in the midst of their difficult lives then sharing a traumatic event teased on the book's first page. Beauty in the midst of hardship.
March 22, 2017
Review
I liked this book a lot because it made me change my views on illegal immigrants. I didn't necessarily like how the book ended but I shouldn't have expected a happy ending. I liked that the author puts how many days until the hanging because when the "hanging" does happen it makes you feel that the book completes itself. The one thing I didn't like was that I couldn't understand what the main character looked like in the book. From what I understood race doesn't matter in the book but I still wish the author would have put a color to the face instead of me assuming the character is white because I, myself, am white.
Plot
The book is about three people; one who is partially deaf, one who came to the united states as an illegal immigrant, and one person who is traumatized from being in the United States military. Tamika
I liked this book a lot because it made me change my views on illegal immigrants. I didn't necessarily like how the book ended but I shouldn't have expected a happy ending. I liked that the author puts how many days until the hanging because when the "hanging" does happen it makes you feel that the book completes itself. The one thing I didn't like was that I couldn't understand what the main character looked like in the book. From what I understood race doesn't matter in the book but I still wish the author would have put a color to the face instead of me assuming the character is white because I, myself, am white.
Plot
The book is about three people; one who is partially deaf, one who came to the united states as an illegal immigrant, and one person who is traumatized from being in the United States military. Tamika
December 6, 2018
*Spoiler alert*
Personal Response
I thought this book was pretty interesting because it had three points of views and it really showed how much some people have to go through in their life. It was pretty suspenseful because on each chapter title it would say how far away “the hanging” was, and when it got to the end of the countdown on the title it said “the hanging.” The ending was a little sad, but there was a little bit of happiness.
Plot Summary
In the start, a girl named Mika is doing other people's homework for money to get the paint that she secretly buys. Mika has hearing aids so she can hear, but she likes having them off so she doesn’t have to hear all the bad stuff around her. Her friend Jimmi is a veteran who is called crazy because the stuff he saw when he was fighting in the war messed him up so badly. The third point of view is a girl named Fatima, and she is an immigrant coming to America from another country. She is trying to earn enough money to get her sister over to America along with a few others. Fatima works as an art teacher and also works with Mika making art. One day when a bully starts attacking Mika, she and Fatima walk home together so the bully can’t attack her. One day when Fatima doesn’t come, Mika is walking home and the bully attacks her and they’re fighting and the bully almost kills Mika with a box cutter, but Jimmi saves her and brings her to a cave to keep her safe. When they go back to town, the police almost kill Jimmi for kidnapping Mika. Next, the police find out Fatima is an illegal immigrant and they send her back to her country. In the end, Jimmi is skateboarding down the street and Mika has taken over teaching for Fatima.
Recommendations
I recommend this book to anyone who likes a suspenseful story. Also to anyone who likes shorter books that don’t take that long to read and still have a good story. I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who doesn’t like violent details or someone who likes perfect happy endings.
Personal Response
I thought this book was pretty interesting because it had three points of views and it really showed how much some people have to go through in their life. It was pretty suspenseful because on each chapter title it would say how far away “the hanging” was, and when it got to the end of the countdown on the title it said “the hanging.” The ending was a little sad, but there was a little bit of happiness.
Plot Summary
In the start, a girl named Mika is doing other people's homework for money to get the paint that she secretly buys. Mika has hearing aids so she can hear, but she likes having them off so she doesn’t have to hear all the bad stuff around her. Her friend Jimmi is a veteran who is called crazy because the stuff he saw when he was fighting in the war messed him up so badly. The third point of view is a girl named Fatima, and she is an immigrant coming to America from another country. She is trying to earn enough money to get her sister over to America along with a few others. Fatima works as an art teacher and also works with Mika making art. One day when a bully starts attacking Mika, she and Fatima walk home together so the bully can’t attack her. One day when Fatima doesn’t come, Mika is walking home and the bully attacks her and they’re fighting and the bully almost kills Mika with a box cutter, but Jimmi saves her and brings her to a cave to keep her safe. When they go back to town, the police almost kill Jimmi for kidnapping Mika. Next, the police find out Fatima is an illegal immigrant and they send her back to her country. In the end, Jimmi is skateboarding down the street and Mika has taken over teaching for Fatima.
Recommendations
I recommend this book to anyone who likes a suspenseful story. Also to anyone who likes shorter books that don’t take that long to read and still have a good story. I wouldn’t recommend this book to someone who doesn’t like violent details or someone who likes perfect happy endings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2017
I re-read this book for our June topic of refugees with #yearofya, join our twitter chat at 8pm Tuesday May 30.
It took me awhile to get around to reading this book, but I was determined since it was listed on 2010 Best Books for Young Adults...All of the characters were important, even Shanelle and her gang as Griffin tells of harsh urban life in the Bronx, where three people's lives intersect, they become friends, and the environment just crushes people. I want to say this book has a redemptive ending, but it falls a short---but that is just life and Griffin wants us to know about living on the mean streets of an urban, decaying city. Each chapter covers one of the friends; Jimmi Sixes is a schizophrenic war veteran who has love in his soul for poetry and the beautiful artwork of Tamika and Fatima. Tamika is hearing impaired and uses a bad set of hearing aids which she likes to "turn off" rather than listen to the loud, nasty insults and jeers of those who taunt her. Fatima is fresh off the boat from Africa where she has lost most of her family and she knows she has to be almost invisible to stay off the radar of the immigration police. Jimmi befriends Fatima, gets her a volunteer job at the veterans hospital when she is not selling newspapers and introduces her to Tamika. It is true friendship that develops between Fatima and Tamika. But Tamika is taunted, pushed and chased by bully Shanelle and she gets more and more in her gang to "take care of Tamika." Fatima meets her at school and walks her home but life is about to take an even nastier turn. For a look at real life on the streets of New York, Griffin's book does not disappoint.
It took me awhile to get around to reading this book, but I was determined since it was listed on 2010 Best Books for Young Adults...All of the characters were important, even Shanelle and her gang as Griffin tells of harsh urban life in the Bronx, where three people's lives intersect, they become friends, and the environment just crushes people. I want to say this book has a redemptive ending, but it falls a short---but that is just life and Griffin wants us to know about living on the mean streets of an urban, decaying city. Each chapter covers one of the friends; Jimmi Sixes is a schizophrenic war veteran who has love in his soul for poetry and the beautiful artwork of Tamika and Fatima. Tamika is hearing impaired and uses a bad set of hearing aids which she likes to "turn off" rather than listen to the loud, nasty insults and jeers of those who taunt her. Fatima is fresh off the boat from Africa where she has lost most of her family and she knows she has to be almost invisible to stay off the radar of the immigration police. Jimmi befriends Fatima, gets her a volunteer job at the veterans hospital when she is not selling newspapers and introduces her to Tamika. It is true friendship that develops between Fatima and Tamika. But Tamika is taunted, pushed and chased by bully Shanelle and she gets more and more in her gang to "take care of Tamika." Fatima meets her at school and walks her home but life is about to take an even nastier turn. For a look at real life on the streets of New York, Griffin's book does not disappoint.
February 26, 2019
11 March 2009 THE ORANGE HOUSES by Paul Griffin, Dial, June 2009, 160p., ISBN: 978-0-8037-3346-6
"Hear my words that I may teach you
Take my arms that I may reach you"
-- Paul Simon
Why does humanity persist in slaughtering its young?
Set in the West Bronx over the course of a month's time, Paul Griffin's THE ORANGE HOUSES is the tale of three young victims of war, three refugees of sorts who come together to provide each other a path to salvation as the clock ticks down -- chapter by chapter -- to a terrible day of reckoning:
Tamika (Mik):
"Meningitis struck her ten years before, when she was five. Technically her hearing loss was 'moderately severe,' what lawyers looking to sue hospitals pegged 50 percent deficient. Being halfway to sound was like never being able to catch your breath.
"She got by just fine when she kept her hearing aids turned on. She didn't much. The machines were what City Services could give her, old technology that jug handled her ears and rattled her with phone and radio static, a high-pitched whir. They sharpened and dulled everything at the same time the way water will just below the surface. But turned off and plugging up her drums, the aids screened out the world. She lived for this silky silence.
Fatima:
"The women tiptoed onto the deck as if they were treading landmined sands. For nine days they had been hiding in the backup engine room of this oil tanker fit for hauling two million barrels of light sweet crude and, this time around, thirty-four refugees. Each woman's passage cost twenty-five hundred dollars. This blind faith cash had been raised a coin at a time, person by displaced person, family by fractured African family. Those who had endured were sending their best shots at survival, if not by bloodline then heritage, west.
"Of the thirty-four, most were going to Camden, where the Immigration police did not go. Camden was written off as a city lost to drugs, prostitution and the nation's highest teen mortality rate. The rest of these travelers were going to a city somewhat safer yet no less rife with illegal employment, Atlantic City. The rest save Fatima Esperer.
"Her mother had given the young woman her first name, but for her new life Fatima chose the last, a French word meaning hope. She taught herself the language from schoolbooks that somehow escaped burning -- English too. At sixteen she was headed where all told her not to go: New York. She had to visit the Statue of Liberty."
'"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"' -- Paul Simon
Jimmi:
"He left Bronx West for Basic without knowing he'd knocked up his girlfriend, the love of his life. He didn't find out she was getting heavy till he was overseas. He set the wedding for his next three-day leave. It never happened. "One morning a five-year-old with an IED strapped to her stomach skipped past Jimmi into the heart of a city market. The bomb malfunctioned. The half explosion tore the girl apart but didn't kill her instantly. Jimmi got to her on her third to last breath. As she died she asked him something in a language he didn't understand. The wounded man next to her coughed up, 'She said, "I know I am going into a coffin, but where will my face live?"'
"PFC James Semprevivo sat in the smoking rubble and closed his eyes. He opened them nineteen days later to find out he was going home. He was eager to get back to the Bronx. His girl hadn't written him since a month before the suicide bomber. He left messages on her machine and her mother's, but neither woman called him back. Thirty feet into Bronx West he got the story. His gal lost the baby late term, then slit her wrists."
Escaping from his stay in the VA hospital and its "happy drugs," desperately trying to outrun the crack pipe, Jimmi is now a street poet, pushing a shopping cart of stuff, and living in cave -- a Depression-era unfinished subway stop that has been his refuge since discovering it as a child -- which is really not all that long ago: Jimmi is still only eighteen.
Tamika, an outstanding student in a hell hole of a school, has artistic ability that few know about. Hiding behind the silence afforded by the hearing aids, she dreams that her talent will be the key to her escape. The motherless Fatima is determined to somehow succeed in New York so that she can spring her sister from the refugee camp in Africa and smuggle her into America. Fatima's ability to bring newspaper to life through her folded paper angels and other creatures has the power to release children from their pain and disarm girl thugs.
Jimmi, who has grown up knowing Tamika and who is floored by encountering Fatima, knows the two young women must meet:
"What those girls could make together. With their gifts, they had a responsibility to do it, to create the beauty that went past paper and pen and sculpture and into the vibe. You can't describe it except to call it something like hope. He prayed Mik and Fatima would hook up until he remembered he was too mad at God to ask for anything."
While, arguably, Tamika experiences the greatest transformation over the course of the story, I am fascinated by how Paul Griffin creates three equally powerful characters who each serve as selfless catalysts in forever altering the lives of the other two. As with his first book, TEN MILE RIVER, I love the counterbalancing here of grit and heart, of predators and nurturers. The love and magic and community and quiet dignity I encountered throughout THE ORANGE HOUSES make me see it being far more akin to the acceptance and humanity of Naomi Shihab Nye's work than it is to typical straight-ahead contemporary YA tales.
"She set aside her sketch and thought If a city sky..."
By sowing hope in a world of hurt and tension, Paul Griffin has me believing in the power of the "If trick" Jimmi teaches the two young women, whereby you think of where you want to be or what you hope to experience, put an "If" in front of it, speak it aloud, and you are there.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
"Hear my words that I may teach you
Take my arms that I may reach you"
-- Paul Simon
Why does humanity persist in slaughtering its young?
Set in the West Bronx over the course of a month's time, Paul Griffin's THE ORANGE HOUSES is the tale of three young victims of war, three refugees of sorts who come together to provide each other a path to salvation as the clock ticks down -- chapter by chapter -- to a terrible day of reckoning:
Tamika (Mik):
"Meningitis struck her ten years before, when she was five. Technically her hearing loss was 'moderately severe,' what lawyers looking to sue hospitals pegged 50 percent deficient. Being halfway to sound was like never being able to catch your breath.
"She got by just fine when she kept her hearing aids turned on. She didn't much. The machines were what City Services could give her, old technology that jug handled her ears and rattled her with phone and radio static, a high-pitched whir. They sharpened and dulled everything at the same time the way water will just below the surface. But turned off and plugging up her drums, the aids screened out the world. She lived for this silky silence.
Fatima:
"The women tiptoed onto the deck as if they were treading landmined sands. For nine days they had been hiding in the backup engine room of this oil tanker fit for hauling two million barrels of light sweet crude and, this time around, thirty-four refugees. Each woman's passage cost twenty-five hundred dollars. This blind faith cash had been raised a coin at a time, person by displaced person, family by fractured African family. Those who had endured were sending their best shots at survival, if not by bloodline then heritage, west.
"Of the thirty-four, most were going to Camden, where the Immigration police did not go. Camden was written off as a city lost to drugs, prostitution and the nation's highest teen mortality rate. The rest of these travelers were going to a city somewhat safer yet no less rife with illegal employment, Atlantic City. The rest save Fatima Esperer.
"Her mother had given the young woman her first name, but for her new life Fatima chose the last, a French word meaning hope. She taught herself the language from schoolbooks that somehow escaped burning -- English too. At sixteen she was headed where all told her not to go: New York. She had to visit the Statue of Liberty."
'"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"' -- Paul Simon
Jimmi:
"He left Bronx West for Basic without knowing he'd knocked up his girlfriend, the love of his life. He didn't find out she was getting heavy till he was overseas. He set the wedding for his next three-day leave. It never happened. "One morning a five-year-old with an IED strapped to her stomach skipped past Jimmi into the heart of a city market. The bomb malfunctioned. The half explosion tore the girl apart but didn't kill her instantly. Jimmi got to her on her third to last breath. As she died she asked him something in a language he didn't understand. The wounded man next to her coughed up, 'She said, "I know I am going into a coffin, but where will my face live?"'
"PFC James Semprevivo sat in the smoking rubble and closed his eyes. He opened them nineteen days later to find out he was going home. He was eager to get back to the Bronx. His girl hadn't written him since a month before the suicide bomber. He left messages on her machine and her mother's, but neither woman called him back. Thirty feet into Bronx West he got the story. His gal lost the baby late term, then slit her wrists."
Escaping from his stay in the VA hospital and its "happy drugs," desperately trying to outrun the crack pipe, Jimmi is now a street poet, pushing a shopping cart of stuff, and living in cave -- a Depression-era unfinished subway stop that has been his refuge since discovering it as a child -- which is really not all that long ago: Jimmi is still only eighteen.
Tamika, an outstanding student in a hell hole of a school, has artistic ability that few know about. Hiding behind the silence afforded by the hearing aids, she dreams that her talent will be the key to her escape. The motherless Fatima is determined to somehow succeed in New York so that she can spring her sister from the refugee camp in Africa and smuggle her into America. Fatima's ability to bring newspaper to life through her folded paper angels and other creatures has the power to release children from their pain and disarm girl thugs.
Jimmi, who has grown up knowing Tamika and who is floored by encountering Fatima, knows the two young women must meet:
"What those girls could make together. With their gifts, they had a responsibility to do it, to create the beauty that went past paper and pen and sculpture and into the vibe. You can't describe it except to call it something like hope. He prayed Mik and Fatima would hook up until he remembered he was too mad at God to ask for anything."
While, arguably, Tamika experiences the greatest transformation over the course of the story, I am fascinated by how Paul Griffin creates three equally powerful characters who each serve as selfless catalysts in forever altering the lives of the other two. As with his first book, TEN MILE RIVER, I love the counterbalancing here of grit and heart, of predators and nurturers. The love and magic and community and quiet dignity I encountered throughout THE ORANGE HOUSES make me see it being far more akin to the acceptance and humanity of Naomi Shihab Nye's work than it is to typical straight-ahead contemporary YA tales.
"She set aside her sketch and thought If a city sky..."
By sowing hope in a world of hurt and tension, Paul Griffin has me believing in the power of the "If trick" Jimmi teaches the two young women, whereby you think of where you want to be or what you hope to experience, put an "If" in front of it, speak it aloud, and you are there.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
richiepartington@gmail.com
October 1, 2015
I read the book “The Orange Houses” by Paul Griffin. This book can be confusing because every chapter rotates in between three different people. But toward the middle of the book things start to take various twist which is when you start to catch onto the rotation of people. One of my favorite details of this book is where every chapter will say where, when, and a count down from “The Hanging”. The whole book leaves you wondering about “The Hanging” until the last few chapters where it leads up to minutes before “The Hanging”. The author added few characters to the storyline throughout the book, but in the end all those people disappear or die, and he leaves you with the last three main characters.
My favorite part of the book would have to be the friendship built throughout the story, that ended in tragedy. i also loved reading the last couple chapter because of all the twist and “The Hanging” These parts of the book really touched my heart and at one point I ended up cry. The book also got me at a hold, in which I couldn’t put the book down. I really enjoyed this book and I think I would recommend “The Orange Houses” by Paul Griffin, to others.
My favorite part of the book would have to be the friendship built throughout the story, that ended in tragedy. i also loved reading the last couple chapter because of all the twist and “The Hanging” These parts of the book really touched my heart and at one point I ended up cry. The book also got me at a hold, in which I couldn’t put the book down. I really enjoyed this book and I think I would recommend “The Orange Houses” by Paul Griffin, to others.
November 9, 2009
Realistic fiction, immigration, friendship.
The book begins with a one page description of Jimmi Sixes who has just returned from the middle east and has been honorably discharged. The very last sentence on this page says, "An hour after Jimmi wrote the poem the vigilantes hung him."
Each chapter is from the perspective of either Jimmi, Mik or Fatima. After each chapter heading there is an update stating the time, place and how many days before the hanging. This continual reminder of the upcoming tramatic and tragic event kept me reading.
Mik is a 15 year old who wears hearing aids and signs to communicate to her mom. She is bullied in school by a gang of girls. She loves to draw cityscapes.
Fatima is a 16 year old refugee who is selling newspapers to get by. She makes folded animals out of newspapers--angels, butterflies, etc.
Jimmi introduces Fatima to Mik and they become best of friends. Fatima guards her from the girl bullies. Jimmi is working through many post war demons.
I definitely recommend this book!
The book begins with a one page description of Jimmi Sixes who has just returned from the middle east and has been honorably discharged. The very last sentence on this page says, "An hour after Jimmi wrote the poem the vigilantes hung him."
Each chapter is from the perspective of either Jimmi, Mik or Fatima. After each chapter heading there is an update stating the time, place and how many days before the hanging. This continual reminder of the upcoming tramatic and tragic event kept me reading.
Mik is a 15 year old who wears hearing aids and signs to communicate to her mom. She is bullied in school by a gang of girls. She loves to draw cityscapes.
Fatima is a 16 year old refugee who is selling newspapers to get by. She makes folded animals out of newspapers--angels, butterflies, etc.
Jimmi introduces Fatima to Mik and they become best of friends. Fatima guards her from the girl bullies. Jimmi is working through many post war demons.
I definitely recommend this book!
April 22, 2009
I got about 3/4 of the way through, and though I know whatever the big action is will happen soon, I had to give up. It was far too outside my knowledge and scope of understanding or appreciation. However, anyone interested in a gritty, street-driven novel set in and around a housing project focused on youth, disabilities, and discrimination, this will certainly be a winner.
The star rating system is such a frustrating thing. I found personally this book not enjoyable, so it's a 2 star. But there are people I know who would love this and want more like it. The 2 stars are my subjective opinion entirely but don't reflect the potential. I give up :)
The star rating system is such a frustrating thing. I found personally this book not enjoyable, so it's a 2 star. But there are people I know who would love this and want more like it. The 2 stars are my subjective opinion entirely but don't reflect the potential. I give up :)
February 24, 2010
While the book jacket explains that there is an explosive event that rocks Mick, Jimmi, and Fatima's world as well as their community, I felt that the jagged writing style and multiple perspectives of the three characters shattered what impact the scene might have had.
Each of the characters themselves could be three separate books about their plights that I would be interested to read, but when they intersect nothing that explosive ensues or at least not that that I'm invested to emotionally involve myself in. It's actually a rather typical (albeit de-sensitized) occurence.
I wasn't impressed as you can tell.
Each of the characters themselves could be three separate books about their plights that I would be interested to read, but when they intersect nothing that explosive ensues or at least not that that I'm invested to emotionally involve myself in. It's actually a rather typical (albeit de-sensitized) occurence.
I wasn't impressed as you can tell.
February 26, 2023
Deaf reader reviewing books with deaf characters. This book is listed on my ranked list of books with deaf characters.
Written by a presumably hearing author, this novel features Tamika (Mik), who was deafened by meningitis at age five, and diagnosed with moderately severe hearing loss, or “halfway to sound.”
“She got by just fine when she kept her hearing aids turned on,” which isn’t often because the devices make her ears stick out and sound like the world is underwater.
I was confused by Mik's communication choices. She can write/type, speak, and sign, but there's not really any clear decision-making insofar as when she uses each of these. For example, during the in-class spelling bee, she writes on the chalkboard, but then will speak outside of class. Mik doesn't like that “She sounded twice as good as she thought she did, half as good as she thought she should," but I don't understand why she wouldn't be made to speak in class, especially when she hasn't got an interpreter or anything.
Without her hearing aids on, Mik is apparently so deaf she cannot hear the tv at full volume and puts her hand on the speaker before turning on her aids to hear the music, now ruined by the HA’s static, and can also now hear the outside night life ambience and NaNa’s snoring.
It's not until very, very far into the novel that I figure out why this is happening. Mik gets new hearing aids, which have the modern open tubes to allow her to continue to hear sounds within the range of her residual hearing, unlike the old molds which act as ear plugs. But I still feel a bit iffy about whether Mik would be not only totally deaf, but comfortably deaf, when her aids are blocking her ears. After all, she gets monthly ear infections that she attributes to the hearing aids, which indicates she isn't cleaning them as often as she should.
Mik doesn’t want to hear. She wants to choose when to block out the world because she finds power in it. This would work better with cochlear implants, but Mik doesn't qualify for them.
Let's speedrun a few points.
Things that are realistic:
-Mom and Mik sign together, mom stiffly and not able to understand half of Mik’s signs. Most families never learn to communicate effectively with their deaf member(s).
-Mik has a habit of signing something rude or sarcastic and then speaking something else. I used to do this often.
-Jae tells her she doesn’t sound “death,” and asks if it hurts to strain to hear, to which she responds no despite the infection paining her. As a kid, I would go to the ends of the earth to avoid being seen as the "deaf girl," so this tracks.
-Principal advocates for Mik to attend a special program, but mom says “regular” school is just fine for her. She wants her to get CIs and live a “normal” life.
-Her hearing aid batteries die. Griffin is one of the few authors who mention this, so kudos on that.
Things that are questionable:
-Mik is an artist who can live without hearing anything except guitars, apparently. This comes across as gimmicky, or else poorly worded by the author. Deaf people tend to really enjoy what sounds they can hear with residual hearing, with or without amplification. I know someone who puts their CIs on only for music or watching TV. But I don't know of anyone who eschews all sounds except for one instrument.
-Mik takes speech therapy at school. The therapist doesn’t always show up. This feels questionable in that Mik wasn't made to speak during the in-class spelling bee, as discussed earlier. The teacher would have been aware of Mik's speaking capabilities, and I have never been a class where I was allowed to write when others were made to speak.
-Maybe not questionable as much as it is confusing as a reader, but Griffin tends to type out all the dialog even when Mik, the POV character, doesn't understand it. For example, there's an announcement on the boat and Mik asks Fatima what he said, despite the reader being privy to this information.
-News channels have really accurate captioning, which is a bit weird. Maybe I don't watch enough news, but I've never seen any well-captioned channels--which is a big reason why I don't watch them.
Things that are unrealistic:
-While riding the same skateboard, she can hear Jimmi’s low rumble and flicks on her hearing aids. It’s always the love interest as an exception, eh? With her eyes closed she gets every word he says. The sound of the skateboard rolling across the pavement and the wind rushing isn't distracting at all?
-Mik’s mom calls instead of texting, and Mik crushes the receiver against her ear (with the ear-plug-mold?) to try and decipher the screams. A real deaf person would have raised the receiver to the mic on the hearing aid, which is behind the ear. She puts the phone on speaker and can suddenly hear every word clearly. But when Mom shows up and starts yelling, suddenly Mik can’t hear any of it due to the wind rushing against the aids—despite clearly hearing Jimmi while riding a skateboard?
-No mention of hearing / lipreading fatigue, but the school bell does “stab” her ears. Not much mention of lipreading in general. Fatigue is a pretty intrinsic experience for deaf people in mainstream settings, with or without aids, so it's pretty glaring that it's missing.
-In a brawl, Mik can still take the time to hear/speechread what people are saying, when she “glimpses” them.
Overall, Griffin showcases a lot of technical knowledge, but misses details that would bring the deaf experience to life.
Written by a presumably hearing author, this novel features Tamika (Mik), who was deafened by meningitis at age five, and diagnosed with moderately severe hearing loss, or “halfway to sound.”
“She got by just fine when she kept her hearing aids turned on,” which isn’t often because the devices make her ears stick out and sound like the world is underwater.
I was confused by Mik's communication choices. She can write/type, speak, and sign, but there's not really any clear decision-making insofar as when she uses each of these. For example, during the in-class spelling bee, she writes on the chalkboard, but then will speak outside of class. Mik doesn't like that “She sounded twice as good as she thought she did, half as good as she thought she should," but I don't understand why she wouldn't be made to speak in class, especially when she hasn't got an interpreter or anything.
Without her hearing aids on, Mik is apparently so deaf she cannot hear the tv at full volume and puts her hand on the speaker before turning on her aids to hear the music, now ruined by the HA’s static, and can also now hear the outside night life ambience and NaNa’s snoring.
It's not until very, very far into the novel that I figure out why this is happening. Mik gets new hearing aids, which have the modern open tubes to allow her to continue to hear sounds within the range of her residual hearing, unlike the old molds which act as ear plugs. But I still feel a bit iffy about whether Mik would be not only totally deaf, but comfortably deaf, when her aids are blocking her ears. After all, she gets monthly ear infections that she attributes to the hearing aids, which indicates she isn't cleaning them as often as she should.
Mik doesn’t want to hear. She wants to choose when to block out the world because she finds power in it. This would work better with cochlear implants, but Mik doesn't qualify for them.
Let's speedrun a few points.
Things that are realistic:
-Mom and Mik sign together, mom stiffly and not able to understand half of Mik’s signs. Most families never learn to communicate effectively with their deaf member(s).
-Mik has a habit of signing something rude or sarcastic and then speaking something else. I used to do this often.
-Jae tells her she doesn’t sound “death,” and asks if it hurts to strain to hear, to which she responds no despite the infection paining her. As a kid, I would go to the ends of the earth to avoid being seen as the "deaf girl," so this tracks.
-Principal advocates for Mik to attend a special program, but mom says “regular” school is just fine for her. She wants her to get CIs and live a “normal” life.
-Her hearing aid batteries die. Griffin is one of the few authors who mention this, so kudos on that.
Things that are questionable:
-Mik is an artist who can live without hearing anything except guitars, apparently. This comes across as gimmicky, or else poorly worded by the author. Deaf people tend to really enjoy what sounds they can hear with residual hearing, with or without amplification. I know someone who puts their CIs on only for music or watching TV. But I don't know of anyone who eschews all sounds except for one instrument.
-Mik takes speech therapy at school. The therapist doesn’t always show up. This feels questionable in that Mik wasn't made to speak during the in-class spelling bee, as discussed earlier. The teacher would have been aware of Mik's speaking capabilities, and I have never been a class where I was allowed to write when others were made to speak.
-Maybe not questionable as much as it is confusing as a reader, but Griffin tends to type out all the dialog even when Mik, the POV character, doesn't understand it. For example, there's an announcement on the boat and Mik asks Fatima what he said, despite the reader being privy to this information.
-News channels have really accurate captioning, which is a bit weird. Maybe I don't watch enough news, but I've never seen any well-captioned channels--which is a big reason why I don't watch them.
Things that are unrealistic:
-While riding the same skateboard, she can hear Jimmi’s low rumble and flicks on her hearing aids. It’s always the love interest as an exception, eh? With her eyes closed she gets every word he says. The sound of the skateboard rolling across the pavement and the wind rushing isn't distracting at all?
-Mik’s mom calls instead of texting, and Mik crushes the receiver against her ear (with the ear-plug-mold?) to try and decipher the screams. A real deaf person would have raised the receiver to the mic on the hearing aid, which is behind the ear. She puts the phone on speaker and can suddenly hear every word clearly. But when Mom shows up and starts yelling, suddenly Mik can’t hear any of it due to the wind rushing against the aids—despite clearly hearing Jimmi while riding a skateboard?
-No mention of hearing / lipreading fatigue, but the school bell does “stab” her ears. Not much mention of lipreading in general. Fatigue is a pretty intrinsic experience for deaf people in mainstream settings, with or without aids, so it's pretty glaring that it's missing.
-In a brawl, Mik can still take the time to hear/speechread what people are saying, when she “glimpses” them.
Overall, Griffin showcases a lot of technical knowledge, but misses details that would bring the deaf experience to life.
May 17, 2009
The author of TEN MILE RIVER has written another short, intense novel set in the Bronx. Tamika, a poor,overweight, hard of hearing teen, Jimmi, a slightly older homeless war veteran, and Fatima, a mutilated illegal teen trying to survive each tell their stories little by little. The tension builds as the reader expects disaster for the three intelligent young people.
November 1, 2017
Have you ever read a book, that you just didn’t to put down, one that made you reevaluate life and consider change? If you have and you love reading them, then you should most certainly not read The Orange houses By paul Griffin. I truly could not stay focused while reading this book, from the start i wanted to stop reading it, but i decided to give it a chance, which… i should not have done. The book looked like one of those life changing, never forgetting books. But it wasn't.
The books was extremely confusing and i kept getting lost within the book. The author does not use consistency within the point of view (pov). The book kept changing between first person and second person. The author also talked a lot about Mik (the main character) and her friends but he doesn't give us much background on her friends. We know who they are and that they all act specific ways, but we don’t know why, we don’t understand why the characters act out and believe certain ways. The book also talks about major sensitive issues such as suicide, substance abuse, being hearing impaired etc. But the author does not get into detail about the hardship and the result that comes with these topics, nor does he condemn bad decision making within these topics. “My problem is i am not on drugs” (Griffin 65).
This quote takes place when Jimmi (Mik’s friend) is not using any drugs and having a conversation with his boss. His boss was talking about how bad he looked and considered the possibility that he was using drugs. Jimmi then replied saying that his problem was not being on drugs. This is just one example of the author talking about a sensitive topic, without going into detail about how horrible it is, he also did not condemn what he is saying. I think that the author should have either ignored the quote over all. Or at least have Jimmi’s boss reply with something that does not condone the usage of drugs. I also had trouble making any connections to the book. I found a few quotes but i ended up making a contractions vs a connections, for example. “In her mind she heard her mom: Why you spending all that time drawing instead of studying? You make all A’s, you get yourself a free ride to college. You wanna end up like me, double shifting Target and Dunkin’s? My daughter gonna end up slinging hennessy cocktails at Applebee's ….” (Griffin 9). From this quote i made a contraction using text Vs self. In this statement, Mik is imagining what her mom would say to her if she found out about her drawings. I do not relate to this because my mom would react the complete opposite. While i feel like during this time period, and with all the stress in Mik’s life, school is very important. I also think that finding your passion is also important, and my mom believes the same way. She can also turn to drawing when her life gets tough, which i believe is also important. Overall i did not like this book, I think that there is so much more that the author could have done to make this amazing, but he didn’t. I give this book 2/3 stars and i would not recommend it to anyone who gets bored easy.
The books was extremely confusing and i kept getting lost within the book. The author does not use consistency within the point of view (pov). The book kept changing between first person and second person. The author also talked a lot about Mik (the main character) and her friends but he doesn't give us much background on her friends. We know who they are and that they all act specific ways, but we don’t know why, we don’t understand why the characters act out and believe certain ways. The book also talks about major sensitive issues such as suicide, substance abuse, being hearing impaired etc. But the author does not get into detail about the hardship and the result that comes with these topics, nor does he condemn bad decision making within these topics. “My problem is i am not on drugs” (Griffin 65).
This quote takes place when Jimmi (Mik’s friend) is not using any drugs and having a conversation with his boss. His boss was talking about how bad he looked and considered the possibility that he was using drugs. Jimmi then replied saying that his problem was not being on drugs. This is just one example of the author talking about a sensitive topic, without going into detail about how horrible it is, he also did not condemn what he is saying. I think that the author should have either ignored the quote over all. Or at least have Jimmi’s boss reply with something that does not condone the usage of drugs. I also had trouble making any connections to the book. I found a few quotes but i ended up making a contractions vs a connections, for example. “In her mind she heard her mom: Why you spending all that time drawing instead of studying? You make all A’s, you get yourself a free ride to college. You wanna end up like me, double shifting Target and Dunkin’s? My daughter gonna end up slinging hennessy cocktails at Applebee's ….” (Griffin 9). From this quote i made a contraction using text Vs self. In this statement, Mik is imagining what her mom would say to her if she found out about her drawings. I do not relate to this because my mom would react the complete opposite. While i feel like during this time period, and with all the stress in Mik’s life, school is very important. I also think that finding your passion is also important, and my mom believes the same way. She can also turn to drawing when her life gets tough, which i believe is also important. Overall i did not like this book, I think that there is so much more that the author could have done to make this amazing, but he didn’t. I give this book 2/3 stars and i would not recommend it to anyone who gets bored easy.
April 17, 2018
The Orange Houses, by Paul Griffin, is a novel about several different cultural identies. This book deals with not only the culture of a young 16 year old girl coming to America as an illegal refugee, but the life of a deaf girl and a young veteran as well. Each chapter changes view point between one of the three characters, Mika, Fatima, and Jimmi, to give more insight and perspective of each one of them. The story opens up with Tamika as the main character, who, because of her hearing deficiency, has not made any close friends, and lives a sort of un-happy life. Her and her mother get by, but struggle with Mika’s disability. After this, we are introduced to Fatima, the young refugee, and then Jimmi, the struggling war veteran who lost not only his unborn child was he was away, but his wife to suicide as well. Jimmi meets Fatima, and she shows him her works of art, creating animals or angels from newspaper and painting them to bring color and beauty into the world. Jimmi then introduces Mika to Fatima as well, however, Mika’s mother does not want Jimmi around her daughter and makes it very clear. Nonetheless, Mika and Fathima start to become very good friends, they do everything together, from teaching the children how to make newspaper figures at the Veterans Hospital, to figuring out Fatima’s immigration situation.
Meanwhile, Jimmi is struggling with his thoughts, and his post-war drug addiction. He has had a very difficult time bouncing back not only from the war, but from the loss of his girlfriend and child as well. He knows he must become drug free and shift his life around, but the loss of their good friend, Joe Knows, takes a hard toll on him. Jimmi contemplates suicide for a couple days, and rarely sees Mika or Fatima. Mika is having trouble with a group of girls at school, with the head leader of the “possi,” having just gotten out of juvenile detention. The girls had picked on Mika before, but one day specifically, everything began to unravel. Mika first gets thrown into a closet at school by the group of girls before they surrounded her after school near the woods, all of them having a switch blade or box cutter in their hands. The head of the group, Shanelle, started to attack Mika just as Jimmi comes to her rescue, and takes her to his hideout while he searches for Fatima. However, word has gotten out that Mika is missing, and everyone believes that Jimmi, the war veteran has finally snapped, and kidnapped the poor, deaf girl. Unable to find Fatima, Jimmi returns to Mika to bring her to the hospital, but they get stopped by a group of gang-bangers on the way, who beat up Jimmi very badly until Fatima finally comes to his rescue. Later in the hospital, Jimmi accidentally spills the beans about where Fatima is from, and sadly, she has to be sent home by the immigration department. Despite the disappointing ending, Fatima and Mika are happy for their friendship, and all the beauty they brought to the neighborhood through their art.
This book could be used as a powerful tool in the classroom as multicultural literature, to help students better understand the deaf community, veteran community, and the culture of refugees.
Meanwhile, Jimmi is struggling with his thoughts, and his post-war drug addiction. He has had a very difficult time bouncing back not only from the war, but from the loss of his girlfriend and child as well. He knows he must become drug free and shift his life around, but the loss of their good friend, Joe Knows, takes a hard toll on him. Jimmi contemplates suicide for a couple days, and rarely sees Mika or Fatima. Mika is having trouble with a group of girls at school, with the head leader of the “possi,” having just gotten out of juvenile detention. The girls had picked on Mika before, but one day specifically, everything began to unravel. Mika first gets thrown into a closet at school by the group of girls before they surrounded her after school near the woods, all of them having a switch blade or box cutter in their hands. The head of the group, Shanelle, started to attack Mika just as Jimmi comes to her rescue, and takes her to his hideout while he searches for Fatima. However, word has gotten out that Mika is missing, and everyone believes that Jimmi, the war veteran has finally snapped, and kidnapped the poor, deaf girl. Unable to find Fatima, Jimmi returns to Mika to bring her to the hospital, but they get stopped by a group of gang-bangers on the way, who beat up Jimmi very badly until Fatima finally comes to his rescue. Later in the hospital, Jimmi accidentally spills the beans about where Fatima is from, and sadly, she has to be sent home by the immigration department. Despite the disappointing ending, Fatima and Mika are happy for their friendship, and all the beauty they brought to the neighborhood through their art.
This book could be used as a powerful tool in the classroom as multicultural literature, to help students better understand the deaf community, veteran community, and the culture of refugees.
November 1, 2017
Have you ever read a book that you wanted to read 24/7 and never put down? If you answered yes, The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin is NOT for you! This memoir is written in third person and takes the reader through the life, thoughts and feelings of three characters. Tamika is a hearing impaired, 15 year old, girl who prefers to be alone in her room drawing. Fatima is a teenage refugee from Africa who’s trying to start life all of over and see the Statue of Liberty and Jimmi is an 18 year old veteran who’s trying to find a purpose in his life. When I found out that he was an 18 year old veteran, I was a little confused because I thought you had to be 18 to join the military.
First off, I don’t think I’ve ever rated a book 2 stars but this book didn’t make any kind of sense. In addition, the author talks about a different character for every chapter and didn’t provide me with enough information about Jimmi “Chapter 1 - Tamika. Chapter 2 - Fatima. Chapter 3 - Tamika. Chapter 4 - Jimmi… Chapter 8 - Jimmi.” This shows how the author only talks about Jimmi twice within the first 10 chapters. After chapter 10 the author begins to describe Jimmi a little more but then goes back to talking about Tamika or Fatima. For the ease of the reader, it would have been helpful if the author had introduced him in the first couple of chapters like he did the other characters.
Another reason for why I gave this book a low rating is because I didn’t learn much about one of the characters and although my preference was to have the details mentioned earlier in the book, I realized in the end that I didn’t learn much about Jimmi. There were certain times in the book when Jimmi would get hurt and didn’t want help but, I didn’t realize how bad his mental state was until the author stated, “ He put the gun to his heart, pulled the trigger, click. He’d been doing this on and off for the last day, rehearsal for the real deal.” Then, near the end, they were looking for him and it appeared as if they were fearful that he had harmed himself. This is evident from the quote, “The next day Mik went to the hospital. Jimmi was AWOL… She tried the VA. Nope. Ultimately they found him but he was talking strangely and they had to call an ambulance.
In conclusion, the author’s style of writing made this one of my least favorite books. He tried to tell alot about three people in a very short amount of pages and unfortunately, he really only gave a good background on Mik.
First off, I don’t think I’ve ever rated a book 2 stars but this book didn’t make any kind of sense. In addition, the author talks about a different character for every chapter and didn’t provide me with enough information about Jimmi “Chapter 1 - Tamika. Chapter 2 - Fatima. Chapter 3 - Tamika. Chapter 4 - Jimmi… Chapter 8 - Jimmi.” This shows how the author only talks about Jimmi twice within the first 10 chapters. After chapter 10 the author begins to describe Jimmi a little more but then goes back to talking about Tamika or Fatima. For the ease of the reader, it would have been helpful if the author had introduced him in the first couple of chapters like he did the other characters.
Another reason for why I gave this book a low rating is because I didn’t learn much about one of the characters and although my preference was to have the details mentioned earlier in the book, I realized in the end that I didn’t learn much about Jimmi. There were certain times in the book when Jimmi would get hurt and didn’t want help but, I didn’t realize how bad his mental state was until the author stated, “ He put the gun to his heart, pulled the trigger, click. He’d been doing this on and off for the last day, rehearsal for the real deal.” Then, near the end, they were looking for him and it appeared as if they were fearful that he had harmed himself. This is evident from the quote, “The next day Mik went to the hospital. Jimmi was AWOL… She tried the VA. Nope. Ultimately they found him but he was talking strangely and they had to call an ambulance.
In conclusion, the author’s style of writing made this one of my least favorite books. He tried to tell alot about three people in a very short amount of pages and unfortunately, he really only gave a good background on Mik.
May 21, 2018
Honestly, when I was given this book as a Christmas present, I was a little skeptical. Everything about it looked completely different than what I usually read. This was obviously problematic when it came to me trying start it up. Though it did take me a couple of months to pick it up again, once I got into it, I was fascinated. Each character had extremely different personalities and personal stories, but for better or for worse, they all ended up in the same place.
Being a teenager who has severe hearing loss and hearing aids, I connected with one of the characters, Mik, on a personal level. Though my hearing isn't quite as bad as Mik's, I understand her wanting to just shut off all the noise and simply live inside her own head. Most of the time when I have my hearing aids in, it feels like everyone's screaming which is a serious pain. Mik has to survive the day by just ignoring everyone, because for the most part, they're all mean to her. She's big-boned, not interested in being popular, and "different" because she wears hearing aids.
As I was saying before, each character is completely different and each have their own story to tell. Fatima, a 16 year old refugee, had just come to america alone. Though initially she has no one to go to, her calm and sweet demeanor immediately bring her friends. Lastly, there's Jimmi Sixes. A homeless vet who, though he's one of the main characters, is kind of a mystery through the entire book. I really feel like Paul Griffin did an amazing job at rounding each character out extremely well. He didn't blur stories together, and each one was uniquely their own. The overall story was amazing and I would definitely recommend it.
P.S., The only thing I would say is that if you aren't into books with graphic scenes in them, then this is not the book for you. There are a few disturbing and upsetting parts, but they certainly don't make up the entire book.
Being a teenager who has severe hearing loss and hearing aids, I connected with one of the characters, Mik, on a personal level. Though my hearing isn't quite as bad as Mik's, I understand her wanting to just shut off all the noise and simply live inside her own head. Most of the time when I have my hearing aids in, it feels like everyone's screaming which is a serious pain. Mik has to survive the day by just ignoring everyone, because for the most part, they're all mean to her. She's big-boned, not interested in being popular, and "different" because she wears hearing aids.
As I was saying before, each character is completely different and each have their own story to tell. Fatima, a 16 year old refugee, had just come to america alone. Though initially she has no one to go to, her calm and sweet demeanor immediately bring her friends. Lastly, there's Jimmi Sixes. A homeless vet who, though he's one of the main characters, is kind of a mystery through the entire book. I really feel like Paul Griffin did an amazing job at rounding each character out extremely well. He didn't blur stories together, and each one was uniquely their own. The overall story was amazing and I would definitely recommend it.
P.S., The only thing I would say is that if you aren't into books with graphic scenes in them, then this is not the book for you. There are a few disturbing and upsetting parts, but they certainly don't make up the entire book.
November 16, 2017
Before the story begins, we get a glimpse of Jimmi’s life, an 18 year old veteran. In an hour, Jimmi will be hanged and then we bounce back in time to about a month before. A hearing impaired girl, Mik, is tired of everyone constantly talking about her impairment. She knows everyone wants what is best for her, but sometimes she likes her crummy hearing aids and being able to shut off the world when she pleases. Not only does Mik struggle with her hearing impairment, she also has a friend who might be deported due to immigration laws and gets bullied by others at school for something she cannot control. While Jimmi is trying to save Mik from the bullies, he gets hurt and taken to the hospital where he is put on drugs to numb the pain and he accidentally tells about Mik’s friend being an illegal immigrant. She then gets deported and Mik is hurt about losing her friend. Mik decides to start using her new hearing aids so she can hear what is going on around her.
I love the amount of diversity that is presented in the story. There are three very different stories being told and each of them are special in their own ways. As a young reader, being able to read about drastically different lifestyles than your own is very eye opening and challenges readers to think about others around them
I love the amount of diversity that is presented in the story. There are three very different stories being told and each of them are special in their own ways. As a young reader, being able to read about drastically different lifestyles than your own is very eye opening and challenges readers to think about others around them
November 28, 2018
this story is about Jimmi’s life. As readers we are taken back about a month before he will be hanged and killed. Jimmi is friends with a girl named Mik that is hearing impared. Mik struggles with the fact that everyone talks about her impairment, which leads Jimmi to stand up for her because people make fun of her impairment. But, Jimmi end up getting hurt and is taken to the hospital, and he then talks to Mik about him being an illegal immigrant. Mik is stressed and scared because of the situations she is going through as well as her friend possibly being deported, and noone to help stand up for her.The reason Jimmi talks about his true identity to Mik because he is put on drugs to help with the pain. Mik loses her friend, but is given a new set of hearing aids, and is finally able to know what people are saying. I personally didn't connect with the characters in this book, but also was written in third person which made it hard to personally connect. I dont think i would use this book in my classroom as a whole, but would leave it on the shelf for students to read if they wished.
May 3, 2018
Personal Response
I think this book was pretty good. It talked about three friends who all had a problem in their lives. They would all try to help each other in a way that they could. They are stuck in a cave and Jimmi, one of the friends, will get hanged.
Plot Summary
The book is about three people; one who is a little deaf named Tamika, one who came to the United States as an illegal immigrant named Fatima, and the other person who is in shock from being in the United States military named Jimmi. Before the story really starts, we get a glimpse of what is happening to the people. Tamika and Fatima are in a cave and they are both hurt, while Jimmi will be hung in an hour. We then jump back to a month before it all happened and it tells us how they met. One day Fatima has to go to the hospital for an appointment. She sees Jimmi, since Fatima is a nice person, she goes to talk to him. She listens to Jimmi's story about how he had been to war at the age of 18. He is traumatized about what happened at war. Fatima and Jimmi start talking a bit more and become friends. Tamika is one day riding her bike and she sees Fatima handing out newspaper. She goes up to her and they both become pretty good friends. One day they all decide to hang out. They go to a restaurant and they see a guy get deported there. Fatima was scared, she thought that could be her any second. Some time passes after that day and Tamika is walking home from school. While she's walking home she sees Michelle. Michelle went up to Tamika to talk to her. Michelle does not like Tamika at all, so Tamika was nervous. Michelle was mad at Tamika and cuts her with a box cutter. Luckily, Jimmi saw this happen and rescued Tamika. People saw Jimmi run away with Tamika and these people thought that Jimmi was going to kidnap her and harm her because of his military days. A mob of people was then after them. Fatima met up with Tamika and Jimmi. They all went to a cave near them. Shorty after, the mob arrived and started punching and pushing Jimmi around. Tamika told them to stop but the mob wouldn't listen . The mob of people then hung Jimmi because they thought he was a threat. Shortly after, the police arrived and stopped this. An ambulance took Jimmi to the hospital and the doctors then asked Jimmi what happened. He told them too much. He even said that Fatima was an illegal immigrant. A week passed by and Jimmi had died in the hospital, and Fatima was on her way back to Africa thanks to Jimmi. Tamika was all alone and sad.
Characterization
This book is based off of a third person view. It talks mainly about the three characters´ friendship. They learned how to work with each other whenever they could. In the end not everything can be expected because of what happened to Jimmi and Fatima.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to anybody from the age of fifteen to 18 because it does talk about some pretty rough things that not many younger kids could understand. I would also recommend this book to any college student because they would be learning about the outside world and what are the struggles of some people in their lives.
I think this book was pretty good. It talked about three friends who all had a problem in their lives. They would all try to help each other in a way that they could. They are stuck in a cave and Jimmi, one of the friends, will get hanged.
Plot Summary
The book is about three people; one who is a little deaf named Tamika, one who came to the United States as an illegal immigrant named Fatima, and the other person who is in shock from being in the United States military named Jimmi. Before the story really starts, we get a glimpse of what is happening to the people. Tamika and Fatima are in a cave and they are both hurt, while Jimmi will be hung in an hour. We then jump back to a month before it all happened and it tells us how they met. One day Fatima has to go to the hospital for an appointment. She sees Jimmi, since Fatima is a nice person, she goes to talk to him. She listens to Jimmi's story about how he had been to war at the age of 18. He is traumatized about what happened at war. Fatima and Jimmi start talking a bit more and become friends. Tamika is one day riding her bike and she sees Fatima handing out newspaper. She goes up to her and they both become pretty good friends. One day they all decide to hang out. They go to a restaurant and they see a guy get deported there. Fatima was scared, she thought that could be her any second. Some time passes after that day and Tamika is walking home from school. While she's walking home she sees Michelle. Michelle went up to Tamika to talk to her. Michelle does not like Tamika at all, so Tamika was nervous. Michelle was mad at Tamika and cuts her with a box cutter. Luckily, Jimmi saw this happen and rescued Tamika. People saw Jimmi run away with Tamika and these people thought that Jimmi was going to kidnap her and harm her because of his military days. A mob of people was then after them. Fatima met up with Tamika and Jimmi. They all went to a cave near them. Shorty after, the mob arrived and started punching and pushing Jimmi around. Tamika told them to stop but the mob wouldn't listen . The mob of people then hung Jimmi because they thought he was a threat. Shortly after, the police arrived and stopped this. An ambulance took Jimmi to the hospital and the doctors then asked Jimmi what happened. He told them too much. He even said that Fatima was an illegal immigrant. A week passed by and Jimmi had died in the hospital, and Fatima was on her way back to Africa thanks to Jimmi. Tamika was all alone and sad.
Characterization
This book is based off of a third person view. It talks mainly about the three characters´ friendship. They learned how to work with each other whenever they could. In the end not everything can be expected because of what happened to Jimmi and Fatima.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to anybody from the age of fifteen to 18 because it does talk about some pretty rough things that not many younger kids could understand. I would also recommend this book to any college student because they would be learning about the outside world and what are the struggles of some people in their lives.
November 26, 2017
The Orange Houses follows three main characters, Tamika, Fatima, and Jimmi with each chapter following a different character giving us new insight into their lives. Jimmi is a retired war vet at the age of 18 or 19 who is struggling with drug addiction, Fatima has immigrated to New York from Africa, and Tamika has hearing loss. Fatima and Tamika become friends, making all sorts of art together, and Jimmi from the beginning knew they would make something great. Because Tamika is bullied for her hearing loss Jimmi and Tamika step in to try and help, but Jimmi gets beaten up in the end and Tamika gets deported, but hopes to return to New York with her sister and see the Statue of Liberty. As a reader I was interested to see more into the lives of three different people from different cultural/social community, but I didn't feel as engaged with the book or the characters as I have in other books. I feel as though parts of the characters and the storyline was a bit underdeveloped, but it wasn't too severe that I couldn't understand the book. The entire chase and fighting sections did make me feel anxious because I didn't know what was going to happen and what the outcome would be, but that was almost the only part that I felt fully invested. Unfortunately because of some of the content in the book I wouldn't use it in any of my elementary classrooms.
February 5, 2018
If you don't have an emotional response and strong feeling of responsibility in making the human race better after reading this, then you have either never been on the receiving end of needed grace or you are simply ignorant to strength in moments disguised as hopeless. Loved the scene that blazes light on judgment based on appearances and weakness in self love, while upholding the truth that self harm many times is the first to protect others. No one is black and white. We are all shades of gray in the real make up of our souls. Loved the quote, "LOVE KILLS TIME." It does in fact do just that. One of Jimmi's best writings, "TIME TO FEEL AGAIN. KNOW THE TRIBE OF MAN. FOR ALL ITS JOY AND HURT." It takes great strength and bravery to FEEL life. But that's how we live. Otherwise we'd just be surviving. Loved Jimmi's story.
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