Thursday, October 23, 2008

Brooklyn Bridge by Karen Hesse


Joseph is very lucky...blessed, even. His parents are Russian immigrants who realize the American Dream when they invent the teddy bear, but in typical teenager fashion, all Joseph sees is that he has to watch his younger brother and sister instead of playing stickball with the guys, his friends treat him differently, and his parents don't have time to take him to the new amusement park at Coney Island because they're too busy making bears. In contrast, the author includes little vignettes about the children who live under Brooklyn Bridge. I liked this story, but I also didn't. There were times when I could really feel Joseph's pain, but also many times when I just wanted to scream at him for being so ungrateful, and the bits about the homeless kids seem completely random, only just starting to make sense about ten pages before the end of the book. NAY.

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