Comments by Jessica Hernandez-Speer

The man was the mechanic who fixed the mechanical teacher.

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:31:54 -0500

Well, the funny thing is that at one point in history, people worried about books and what reading them would do to people and society.

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:31:54 -0500

it took me a minute...

Fri, 08 May 2020 10:34:33 -0400

How can he be saved?

Fri, 08 May 2020 10:34:33 -0400

I wonder if the students were DEEPLY engaged.

Fri, 08 May 2020 10:28:33 -0400

wonder what they were retooling in the history sector....

Fri, 08 May 2020 10:27:45 -0400

I have a lot of books that are already yellow and crinkly!

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:31:53 -0500

I take this to mean that a lot of us look at other people on the street, in the train, wherever, and assume that everyone else has their life together and knows so much more than we do.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

Ernestine is the older sister. Clementine (Tish) is the younger.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

I'm happy that the author chose to create this kind of father character - one who believes in his daughter and her choices and will love and support her, and not lie to her or underestimate her.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

Book characters can show us what is possible to be, even if we have never seen it ourselves.

I guess that sometimes they are more alike than parents and children of the same gender

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

Yup. Both schools and young people should believe in each other's goodness and possibilities.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

I agree. She's all about the strength of love.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

Sometimes it helps to focus hard on something lovely (like a rose) when you are scared or sad or going through something.

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:25:05 -0500

Bingo!

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

I have no idea, because if you put yourself above everyone else, who are your going to have left to talk to?

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:25:05 -0500

Desert, yes. A long, hard journey.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

most definitely.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:45 -0400

Two curve balls in a row that life threw at him.

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:25:05 -0500

It certainly makes it easier that they are both glad about it.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

Or they are somehow made to feel they deserve to be there, whether they did something or not.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

You know you're in trouble when they use your middle name...

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:25:05 -0500

This novel was written in 1974. "The Lesson" (the story about the kids going to the toy store with Miss Moore) was written in 1972. Both take place in Harlem. What similarities do you see between the two? What differences?

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

He has heard many stories in his life about people he knows locked up and not helped by the lawyer appointed to help them. It happened too often back then, and it still happens now (I hope less often).

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:33 -0400

He has heard many stories in his life about people he knows locked up and not helped by the lawyer appointed to help them. It happened too often back then, and it still happens now (I hope less often).

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

I agree.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

I agree.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:10:12 -0400

I guess she feels out of place, like she doesn't belong there.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

I guess she feels out of place, like she doesn't belong there.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:56 -0400

A woman was raped, and a police officer who has it out for Fonny told her to say it was him, since she never saw who did it.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

A woman was raped, and a police officer who has it out for Fonny told her to say it was him, since she never saw who did it.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:55 -0400

They don't know if he's really going to help Fonny or just give them the runaround and take their money.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

They don't know if he's really going to help Fonny or just give them the runaround and take their money.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:53 -0400

Yes

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:47 -0400

Yes

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

Yes. Big difference between the two families in terms of love and commitment.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:41 -0400

Yes. Big difference between the two families in terms of love and commitment.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

No, she means, look what you are doing to your daughters.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

No, she means, look what you are doing to your daughters.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:40 -0400

Because she sees how awful the mother is, and how bad the relationship is between the parents, and how can a person learn to be a good person when that's all you see?

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:39 -0400

Because she sees how awful the mother is, and how bad the relationship is between the parents, and how can a person learn to be a good person when that's all you see?

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

She is really amazing in the movie.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

She is really amazing in the movie.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:39 -0400

Yeah, he should have just said what he had to say and left. Left her. I agree, didn't have to hit her.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

Yeah, he should have just said what he had to say and left. Left her. I agree, didn't have to hit her.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:37 -0400

dry up and die away

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

dry up and die away

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:36 -0400

I think he really is glad.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

I think he really is glad.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:35 -0400

Doesn't seem like it. Then again, they don't seem particularly likable...

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:35 -0400

Doesn't seem like it. Then again, they don't seem particularly likable...

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

Frank is saying that his wife has spent more time in church, with Jesus, than she has on raising her own son or paying attention to her husband (Frank). He's calling Jesus "that white Jew bastard".

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

Frank is saying that his wife has spent more time in church, with Jesus, than she has on raising her own son or paying attention to her husband (Frank). He's calling Jesus "that white Jew bastard".

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:34 -0400

It means, all the law degrees in the world won't help if the lawyer himself doesn't want to help his client. Just because you have a law degree doesn't mean you intend to use it properly. Frank has seen this before.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

It means, all the law degrees in the world won't help if the lawyer himself doesn't want to help his client. Just because you have a law degree doesn't mean you intend to use it properly. Frank has seen this before.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:32 -0400

She's kind of guilt-tripping him or anyone who will listen, like, "oh, who am I? Nobody, just his mother. I'm fine, nobody needs to worry about me," when she really means the opposite.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:31 -0400

She's kind of guilt-tripping him or anyone who will listen, like, "oh, who am I? Nobody, just his mother. I'm fine, nobody needs to worry about me," when she really means the opposite.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

He might not want his parents to worry or think he can't handle it.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

He might not want his parents to worry or think he can't handle it.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:30 -0400

I think it's because they look down on people rather than trying to relate to them honestly.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

I think it's because they look down on people rather than trying to relate to them honestly.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:29 -0400

No, but now that Tish is pregnant, she can look at her a little bit differently. They have a little bit more in common now.

Wed, 15 Sep 2021 18:09:28 -0400

No, but now that Tish is pregnant, she can look at her a little bit differently. They have a little bit more in common now.

Sat, 09 May 2020 19:06:30 -0400

He worries too much. That affects the actions he takes. Some of the actions he took had unexpected consequences. That's how she is looking at it, and it will become clear later in the story.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

Fonny is Alonzo's nickname, like Tish is Clementine's nickname and your nickname is Angie for Angelina

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:31:54 -0500

Not at all. He was a young Black man in 1960s Harlem. He didn't have to be a bad kid; just being a kid he was higher risk for something bad to happen to him. Unfortunately it hasn't changed a lot yet.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

I completely agree with you.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

Well, NYC is big, but Harlem , the neighborhood, is smaller.

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:31:53 -0500

Some people need to find their worth in putting others down, unfortunately. And that ain't what Jesus was talking about, IMO.

Thu, 03 Mar 2022 11:25:05 -0500

That's what makes him special to her

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

this happened when they were younger kids.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

You must feel very strongly about New York in a positive way, which is ok too...

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

this will be explained more later but in short, mistaken identity and a white cop who had beef with Fonny.

Thu, 07 May 2020 22:32:44 -0400

A lot of deep thoughts come to us on the bus....

Thu, 10 Feb 2022 08:31:53 -0500

No, Fonny is her man, her partner, her baby's father.