Before We Were Free By Julia Alveraz

          

        I've been reading the book "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez. The main character is Anita Oscar; she is Dominican and lives in the Dominican Republic. Anita has a Spanish accent; her and other Dominicans in her class get made fun of it by her white classmates. Most of Anita's family moved from the Dominican Republic to New York, she is confused why her and her family isn't going to. One of the closest things to family that Anita has left in the Dominican Republic is her old nanny Chucha. Anita and her family get scared and worried when the S.I.M (secret police) comes into their house looking for her cousins.

      Anita lives in the Dominican Republic and goes to public school. In her class there are a couple of Dominicans and a lot of white people. Anita and the other Dominicans in her class have accents. All the white kids make fun of all the Dominicans in her class because they say words differently.. For example on page 2 “The class groans. Oscar is always asking questions. ‘United Estates! United Estates!’ someone in the back row mimics”.

      During class Anita and her cousin Carla are told to pack up Carla’s school stuff. Anita and Carla are confused why they are leaving school early. Anita notices that Carla’s mom looks very nervous.  They get into the car to head home and when they get home all Carla’s suitcases are pack along with her moms’ and sisters suitcases. Anita then realizes Carla and her families are moving to New York City. Most of Anita’s family members moved from the Dominican Republic to New York City.  Anita feels sad because Carla is here favorite cousin and now she is moving away. For example on page 9 “When Carla gets to me, the tears well up in my eyes… ’we’ll see you soon,’ Carla reminds me. But it only makes it harder not to cry”.

      After Carla and her family leave down the driveway Anita starts to mope around. As her mom sees her she tells her to help Chucha move in to her room. Chucha is her old nanny; she is the closest thing that she has that is close to family. Anita feels happy and safe around Chucha.  Anita feels that Chucha is comfortable to be around. Chucha sleeps in a coffin and Anita thought that was weird, but Chucha told Anita that the coffin helps her in preparing for her next life. That same day men from the S.I.M come into Anita’s house and are looking for her cousins. Chucha told Anita that these men are secret police that make people disappear and send them away. Anita was startled by them and a little scared that they would take her mom away. For example, on page 15 “I run to her side. ’Mami, no!’ I start wailing. I don’t want her to go with these creepy policemen. What if they hurt her?”

      In conclusion, Anita feels angry and frustrated when the white kids make fun of the Dominican’s accents. Anita also feels sad when Carla moves to New York City. Carla is her favorite cousin and she doesn’t want to see her leave. Also Anita felt startled and scared when the men from the S.I.M came to her house. Anita was also scared that the men from the S.I.M would take her mom away or make her disappear.

              

After Ever After

      The book After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick is the sequel to the book Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie.  In the book After Ever After the main character is Jeffery Alper. In the first book Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie Jeffery was diagnosed with Leukemia. Towards the end of the first book Jeffery's cancer was cured. From all Jeffery's chemotherapy his brain became damaged.

       During high school Jeffery struggled with math, because of his brain being damaged Jeffery cannot catch on fast in class. Jeffery’s best friend is Thaddeus Ibsen. Jeffery and Thaddeus have been friends since fourth grade. Thaddeus also had cancer; his cancer also affected his brain which caused him to not be able to walk. Since Jeffery and Thaddeus have brain damage they cannot write, so during class they both get laptops to write down their thoughts and assignments.

     In After Ever After Jeffery had an awkward connection with his father. As Jeffery fails his math class Thaddeus offered to tutor him. It’s hard for Jeffery’s dad to see him failing math because he is an accountant for a living and he is very good with math. Jeffery’s father has a weird connection with Jeffery because he can’t really relate to him. Jeffery’s father has trouble with Jeffery because of all his health conditions.

    Throughout the book Jeffery and Thaddeus made a deal. The deal was if Thaddeus tutored Jeffery in math, Jeffery would help Thaddeus with walking by the end of the year for graduation. During gym class Jeffery and Thaddeus were the only ones aloud to use the lifting equipment while everyone else did laps. Since Jeffery and Thaddeus had a special gym period Jeffery would help Thaddeus with his walking. Then after school Thaddeus would help tutor Jeffery with his math. By the end of the year Jeffery graduated high school.  As for Thaddeus his cancer came back and when he had his surgery his liver started to fail and there was nothing the doctors could do. Thaddeus’s heart stopped at 10:32 am. For Thaddeus Jeffery promised Thaddeus’s mother that he would say something during graduation for Thaddeus.