Bluefish: Week of 2/17/14

Pages: 1-23
Prompt: Give a general summary of what's going on. What are some of your thoughts on what you've just read?

     So far, this book "Bluefish" has interested me very much, and I've only read about 20 pages! The book is narrated by an actual narrator, unlike most books I've read, and the beginning of the book starts in a school setting. It's so far been about a boy named Travis, who is starting 8th grade. On the first day of school, a boy's shoe had come off, and Travis had picked it up, seeing that the boy had been bullied before his shoe came off. He went to classes regularly, until he felt he just couldn't take the stress that the first day of school had brought. So, he left. He had run away from school many times before, but he had almost always been caught, but this time he didn't. Though, his Grandfather did end up driving past him, and brought him home. His Grandfather was a kind man, though smoked tons of cigarettes a day, and was an alcoholic, though he had been alcoholic free for about 30 days. Travis didn't like this, but his Grandfather was the only person he had. He continued on with school, and made a new friend named Velveeta. She was very bubbly, fun, and extremely talkative. Pretty much the opposite of quiet, reserved, Travis. So, it's kind of hard to believe that they became friends.Velveeta really liked Travis, and the main reason why this was, was because she saw him give the boy his shoe back the day he was getting bullied, and knew he was a kind hearted person. 


     Though, like Travis, Velveeta had some problems of her own. In the book, there are little letters/journal entries that Velveeta had wrote, intended for her father to read. Though, her father couldn't actually read them because he had died. I'm not 100% sure of the situation Velveeta was in, but it sounds like at home (well, in her dad's trailer) she kind of isolates herself from the world, thinking, writing, dreaming, but definitely not doing homework! Though, she makes it seem like she lives on her own in her dad's trailer, she actually mentions her mom, and how they watched movies together one night, and played games another. So, I'm not sure if she's on her own, or if she actually lives in a house, or if she actually has a mom living with her, or what. So, from the story so far, you can clearly see that Velveeta and Travis have more difficult, and sad lifestyles, and they're not as lucky as people with two parents, and a normal house. So, that's basically what has happened so far.

     From reading what I have so far, I can already that this story is going to be a bit emotional. From Travis living with only his Grandfather who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, who is an alcoholic, with no signs of parents, and Velveeta basically raising herself in a trailer, (or so it seems) with possibly a mother, possibly not, and a father who has just died, is already enough to find out in the first 23 pages. What happens when I learn why everything is like that? I think I am going to feel even worse for Travis and Velveeta than I already do right now. t makes me so sad to think about their situation, and how I could possibly end up like that, with no parents, or living in a trailer. I would be miserable, and I imagine they are too! I also am a bit confused, like I already mentioned, with Velveeta's situation. Does she actually have a mother who takes care of her? Does she live in a trailer? Does she have someone to come home to after school? Does she feel loved? And what about Travis? What happened to his parents? Why is he always running away from school? Is heokay with living with his grandfather, smoking, and drinking? This story has been so interesting, yet a bit sad so far, and I'm excited to read more (I mean, I've barely started!) So, that's basically what has happened so far, and some thoughts I've had on the story so far.