Response+To+Literature

Book title: New Boy

Author: Julian Houston

Year Published: 2005

The novel was about a young black boy who got to experience life outside of the segregated South. He went to a school in Conneticut and he felt like he didn't belong because he was the first and only black person in the school's history. Although he was in the North away from the segregation and discrimination a part of him wanted to be there to help his community in the fight for freedom. He never felt welcome in his school even though he was basically making history.

My hero's name is Rob Garret. He is a young boy going to a northern school. He was a big fan of Joe Louis and his dream was to meet him some day. His father was a well respected dentist and his mother was a teacher. As he got through his school year he never said anything to anyone, he wanted to stay to his self. All he could ever think about while being in a school where he wasn't discriminated for his color is going back home in the segregated South. Also he is a very intelligent boy who works his hardest in school to make honor role. He did everything in his might to try to stay on honor role and get home for the protest.

Rob represented his home. He always thought about being there while being in his school. He wanted to be able to help his friends and family to change society. Instead of showing whites that Negroes could make something of theirselves and be successful by staying in school and doing all he can do, he wanted to be there in the South to show them they can't take advantage of anyone. He wanted to be able to look back when everything has changed to say " I was there, I changed the ways of how people live " Rob felt his life was based on changing the society.

In the novel. my hero tries his best to get out of school to get home in time to help the kids who were determined to change the South. When he went home for winter break he came back to school a whole different person. As the months passed he tried his best so he would be able to get a weekend off. He worked hard to please his teachers in order to get a free weekend home. When the time came he asked his parents to send him money to get on the train to get back there to be involved in everything. He told his friends he wouldn't miss the protest and he didn't.

He wasn't much of a talker but some people still disliked him. For Thanksgiving break, he went to New York to meet his parents at his cousin's house but as he was there he met a friend that went to his school. They had planned to have a date at a nightclub but they didn't want to tell their parents exactly where they were going. Rob told his parents that he was going to a friend's house for dinner and they offered him a ride to the house. When they got there one of the doormen had told his parents that they weren't expecting a colored boy.

He could have gotten busted if he hadn't told the doorman his name. His friend told his father they were going to a movie. But while at the nightclub they ran into a man who worked for the family of his friend. The man act as if he didn't notice Rob's friend and had called Rob out of his name and tried to attack him. After that night, they tried to determine whether or not to tell his father what happened and where they were that night. Afterthey got back to school his friend told his father what had happened that night and that they were in a nightclub.

At the beginning of the book Rob felt relieved to be out of the South. His school wasn't really helping the fact that he was trying to get away from people who discriminated. They never said anything about him but about the people he was friends with. After a while he felt he needed to be at home helping kids to save them from segregation. To help his friends at home he needed his parents behind him and have his back. Without a doubt his parents was there for him and supported his decision to come from school just for a weekend to make history. He may have not been able to stay long to keep the protest going until something changed, but he still was there in the beginning to show he truly cared for his community, his home, and those in other states in the South.