-------Gerald never had an easy childhood, when he was three his mom Monique, had a drug problem and often abused and didn't care for him. One day while Gerald was in the house alone, he was playing with one of his mom's lighters when the house suddenly caught fire. Helplessly, Garald was consumed by the smoke and flames and was brought to a nearby hospital. His mom was sentenced to jail and he was taken in by his aunt Queen. There he was brought up just the way every boy should, until his ninth birthday finally arrived. His mom who he hasn't seen in six years, just came out of jail and was coming to visit him. Gerald reluctantly decided to see his mom only to meet her new boyfriend Jordan, and his new sister Angel. Suddenly his mom asked him to live with them and he couldn't of said no sooner. He disliked his mom completely and her new boyfriend scared him to death. Then while Gerald was alone in the house with Angel and Aunt Queen, Aunt Queen had a heart attack and died. This obviously upset Gerald very much but to his surprise he was back to living with his mom, and this time a new father and sister. Gerald was proud of his mom for being able to give up drugs, but disliked the fact that Jordan often drank and hit Angel . Angel and Gerald were very close, Gerald was the only person Angel could talk to and he tried to protect her as much as possible. Soon Jordan's drinking got worse and worse and he started getting violent towards Gerald, Angel and even Monique. Then one day when Gerald was coming home from school he knew something did not seem right , all the blinds were down and it was pitch black. Frightened, he went to Angel's room and what he saw was not a pretty sight. Jordan was sexually abusing Angel. Over the next few days Gerald was really worried for Angel. He wanted to know what happened but Angel would not tell him, she knew Jordan would hurt him if she told him. Jordan id not stop sexually abusing Angel and Gerald wanted to tell someone about it. The next day at school he approached Mr. Washington while he was dropping off his son Robbie. Mr. Washington was always active with the school and came to every basketball game, to Gerald he was like the father he never had. Gerald decided to tell Mr.Washington about what Jordan was doing to Angel, he took Gerald and alerted the police. Gerald and Angel both testified against Jordan but Monique refused to believe the truth and was silent the entire time. Jordan was sentenced to prison for four years. Everything was going well for Gerald and Angel, they were finally having a life and were making new friends. Then one day after a basketball game, Gerald walked into the apartment only to find Jordan sitting right in front of him. Just as things were going fine, Jordan had to show up and Gerald was not happy about it at all. Monique was thrilled to have Jordan back, but Angel was not good at all. She screamed and vomited after seeing him standing in the house. Angel refused to live there and each day was a challenge for both of them. After Gerald told Mr. Washington, he suggested that him and Angel sleep at there house most of the time so Angel doesn't have to worry about Jordan. Gerald was surprised to see that Jordan had a decent job and not at all used violent behavior or drank extensively, he still remained suspicious though. A few day's after Jordan's arrival Monique was hit by a car. This frightened Angel and Gerald because if anything happened to her all they will have is Jordan. She was fine, but she said the doctor prescribed her some pills. Over the next few days Monique did not seem herself. She watched t.v all day long and was often dazed and confused. Gerald thinks that since Monique is hurt, it is just another way for her to start doing drugs again, which Gerald was not happy about so he flushed those pills down the toilet. Then it all started again, when Angel came home from school she was alone and was making hot dogs. Then before she knew it, Jordan was behind her and he was drunk. She tried to escape his grasp but she wasn't strong enough, and he brought her to her bedroom.
Then without realizing it, the cooking hot dogs started a fire and within minutes the whole house was catching fire. Jordan was to busy to realize anything. Gerald could see the smoke from the apartment window and rushed there as fast as he could. When he burst open the door he rushed to Angel's room where he found her laying unconscious. Jordan didn't see him come in and was caught off guard by Gerald's punch. Gerald ran to his sister as Jordan ran to the front door to try to escape. He picked her up and as he was making is way out of the apartment, all the smoke was covering the exit. He didn't know where to go and it was getting harder and harder to breath. Then as he was starting to drift from consciousness he tripped on something and landed at the front door. As he made it out, Monique was running towards them and was so relieved they were OK. Gerald And Angel were both fine but Jordan died in the fire, he was the one Gerald tripped on that led him top the front door. Hopefully this is the start of a new beginning
------------Gerald is brave and strong kid. He is extremely protective of his younger sister and is very caring and friendly. I give Gerald a lot of credit for being so optomistic and positive, his life has been full of bad times but he always looks at the good ones.
------------Angel is a very determained and sensitive girl. She's small and thin, but when she want's someything she'll make sure she get's it.
------------This book is my favorite of all the books in the series. It made me think how fortunate i am to live without having to worry like Gerald had to. I admired his care for his sister and friends.
------------In this book i used a lot of infrencing. The characters are like real people so i am able to make infrences based on what i hear in real life. When Jordan was released from prison i just knew he would harm Angel again, a man like that neve changes, sure enoough he did.
-------------Sharon M. Draper is a great author who writes about social issues that go on in scociety today. She gives the reader a sence of reality for what troubles you may face as time goes on. Her characters come to life and by the second chapter, it seems like you know them personally
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