Gathering Information Notes Article 1

Alena Stoots

Mrs. Zurkowski

English 9 Greens

9/22/10

Gathering Information-Notes

Work Cited

“Homeless.” Gale Student Resource in Context. Detroit: Gale, 2010. Gale Student Resource in Context. Web. 22 Sept. 2010.

·         Homeless people risk their own personal safety

·         They all have a lack of hygiene

·         Majority of homeless people are women

·         Most homeless women carry children along with them

·         In Europe and North America, there is limited access to health care and shelter

·         Homelessness and poverty estimates about more than 3 million people per year

·         Some people become homeless as a result of war, insurrection, or ethnic violence.

·         Many people became homeless after Katrina hit in 2005

·         There is little or no connection with friends and family

·         In some parts of the world, women have no poverty rights

·         Not everyone living below the poverty line is homeless

·         There is limited access to Education as well as health care

·         “Most have no place to secure their possessions and are under constant threat of theft and violence.”

·         “In the United States, for example, the highest proportion of homeless people are middle aged men.”

social issue

Alena Stoots

Mrs. Zurkowski

English 9 Greens

9/14/10

Homeless Teens

One of the key issues in the novel Can’t Get There From Here by Todd Strasser is homeless teens. There are over 1.3 million homeless teens all over the world. One out of every seven runaway young adults, (15%) leaves home before their 18^th birthday. 46% of homeless teens had been physically abused before leaving. 32% is the number of runaways who have been forced to participate in sexual activities against their will. Teens that run away from a conflict with a parent or guardian is 47% or most homeless teens. 17% is the number of runaways who have dropped out of school. The percentage of homeless teens who will try to kill themselves is 32%. More than 5,000 homeless teens die from assault, illness, or suicide. There are many shelters for young adults out there, but some like Maybe aren’t sure if it’s the right place for them. Homeless teens are a serious issue and needs to be addressed immediately.

http://www.tonic.com/file/76441/

  http://blog.adolescenttoolbox.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/homeless.jpg

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/mcdon469/architecture/social%20issue/homeless.jpg

3 social issue questions

1) How bad does it have to been in a household to make a teen leave home?
2) How often do teens run away every year?
3) What causes teens to have the urge to leave home

summer reading questions

Alena Stoots
Can’t Get There From Here Todd Strasser
1. The main character of this book is a young teenage girl that goes by Maybe. Maybe is not her real name, it is her street name. Towards the end of the story she announces her given birth name is Jesse. Maybe stays very strong throughout the entire book and never gives up on her friends or herself. She was born with an unusual skin condition, and finds a helpful librarian who also shares the same uneven pigment. She cares a lot for her friends/ tribe of other homeless teenagers, and she follows her heart and decides that it’s best to finally get help with her life towards the end of the book.

2. In the beginning of this story, Maybe and her friends find a dead man who went by Country Club. None of them completely understood why he died, but they all join together afterwards and start talking about how they ended up on the street, how old they are and where they came from. Towards the middle of the story is where Maybe meets the Liberian named Anthony when she and Rainbow tried to clean off in a handicapped stall of a public library restroom but get caught by two police men. They were forced to clean up after themselves while they were still naked and damp from washing their bodies in the sinks. Also, Maybe and a couple of her friends dress up and go to a club in New York City and she finds herself feeling sick and dizzy, she was offered to have a place to sleep at a random man’s house her friend Jewel requested, only if she cleaned up his house for him, but he eventually kicked her out. At the end of the story is when Maybe helps out her friend Tears, who is only twelve years old to get off the street and go back home to her grandparents since her stepfather abused her. Maybe realizes that there are a lot of ways to live, and a lot of different places to live too, and that she too can get off the streets and have a normal life like everyone else if she tries hard enough.

3. I think what the author is trying to say about life throughout the story is that if you or someone you know is going through a rough time and doesn’t have anywhere to go it doesn’t hurt to help one another and also if no one ever does help you it’s not too late to start helping yourself.

4. When Tears finally goes home to her grandparents, she, Anthony and Maybe are all affected by it. Tears is now off the streets and will be taken care of from now on. Anthony was the one who drove Maybe and Tears all the way to her grandparents, and she realizes it’s time for Maybe to get off the streets too. Maybe is affected by this because she now sees that if Tears can get cleaned up and go home to live safely then she can too, even if it means going back to the Youth Housing Project for now.

5. Two specific events that happened that made the book’s social issues seem real and important was when Rainbow was taken away from Maybe by officer Ryan when she was sick and later on she found out Rainbow had died, and the police found her body in a nearby river. Another event was when Maybe and Anthony feared that Tears was hit by a truck and died, because the officer’s description of the girl matched Tears, but turned out to be someone else. The author makes a big issue immediate by showing the reader that she is homeless from the very beginning. The author makes the issue personal because he describes the emotional challenges that the main character goes through.

alenas pen pal assignment

703 Churchville Road

Bel Air, MD 21014

September 3, 2010

Dear Maybe,

            My name is Alena Stoots and I very much enjoyed reading how you lived your life on the streets in Can’t Get There from Here by Todd Strasser. I am a freshman at The John Carroll School. My summer was fantastic! I went to the Ocean City, Maryland for 2 weeks in July, i went jet skiing for the first time while I was there and also visited the beach a couple times. I have two older sisters, one is in college and the other is a junior at John Carroll. I also have a little brother and 3 golden retrievers. I’m sure you eventually decided to listen to Anthony and find your way off the street and back home with your family or at least into the Youth Housing Unit.

            When I first started reading your novel it grabbed my attention right away because you were already homeless and had been for a while. Throughout the book you went from place to place and so did your fellow homeless teens. A certain part of the book that really kept me interested was when you and Rainbow were trying to wash off in the New York City Public Library restroom and two police officers walked in while you were naked and they made you clean up without putting your clothes back on. The reason this shocked me was because Bobby the leader of the two men was extremely cruel and didn’t give you any slack for being younger victims. However, you managed to get through it and so did Rainbow.

            I would call Todd Strasser’s method of writing realistic because there are many struggling teens in this world that are homeless and have nowhere else to go. The events that you go through during the story could happen to anyone and because of that I think some people could relate to you and your emotions more than if Can’t Get There from Here was more of a fiction novel. I thought his writing was good because he went into detail about how you were reacting to every situation and also how the people around you reacted.

            I would like to know why don’t feel its right to go back home to your family even after you take Tears back to hers. Even though you decided to listen to Anthony and go back to the Youth Housing Project I’m sure you would rather be home and off the streets. Did you ever consider it? Surely it couldn’t hurt to try.

            Reading this book made me think differently about the issue of Homeless teens and how they’re lives are so affected by it. While you were on the streets, you stayed strong for yourself and your friends as well. However, towards the end when Rainbow died you could see how she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself and it gave you twice as much work providing her with the care she needed to be okay. Even though they took her away from you when you both were in jail, you never gave up on her.  People without homes or shelter are a bigger issue then we realize and should be addressed with more consideration and attention. I believe if there was a better amount of money put it towards a foundation there would be enough room for everyone on the streets to come live in an adoption agency or a group home like the one you visited. If we did this then there would be less and less homeless teens out there every day.

            I hope you do find a way back home or at least to a good shelter where you can be protected and have your needs fulfilled.  Good luck in your future and stay strong wherever you end up!

Sincerely,

           

Alena Stoots

alena's unique profile

My Unique Profile

My name is Alena Stoots. I am a freshman at John Carroll and a current junior varsity cheerleader. I went to middle school at North Harford. I love swimming, playing with my 3 dogs; Lexi, Charlie and Daisy. They are all golden retrievers. I also love hanging out with my friends and family. I have two older sisters. My oldest sister Shayna graduated from John Carroll this year and my second oldest sister Kayla, is a junior here. I also have a younger brother named Matt, and he is in 7^th grade and goes to North Harford Middle School.  My goals for my first year of high school are to keep all of my grades up and stay on task throughout the entire year.