critical analysis

Nubia’s Fabulous Critical Analysis for non-fiction book

omeHome HHapkf;klna;kfn

            I think the author wants the reader to know that youth homelessness is a problem that can only be solved by the kids themselves, and that most kids choose to live on the streets. The main idea of the text is that most homeless kids don’t want to be felt bad for because they choose to live on the streets and live a dangerous lifestyle despite the other safer options there are for them. For example, people often get attacked by a loved one on the street because the loved one blacks out. This is when someone gets so drunk, that they don’t remember anything at all and they don’t know what they are doing. This shows that they are choosing to lie a dangerous lifestyle and stay with these people who are hurting them because of petty issues such as being too drunk. Another example of this is jewel, who “…used the blackout excuse for her boyfriend’s attack on her..” jewel was attacked so hard that she had a seizure. Her boyfriend was afraid he would get in trouble for hurting her, so he just left her there having a seizer for a whole day. Jewel stayed with her boyfriend after that. This shows that even though he was a danger to her life, she stayed with him. Also, many kids who have the  option to go live in a homeless shelter don’t because they think they have too many rules and they want to be free. One teen even said straight up that he chose the street lifestyle for a reason and that he doesn’t want to live in a shelter.

            I think the author wants us to not feel bad for homeless youth because they clearly chose that lifestyle and are very happy with it. One way the author does this is by making it seem like the kids know a lot of things. For example, when she goes to the squat, the kids tell her not to go in because it is dangerous, and she takes their advice, showing that the street kids  know best. Another way the author does this is by including quotes from the street kids. This is really helpful because it shows directly what the kids say. Another way the author makes us not want to feel bad for homeless youth is by showing how they refer to themselves as: “travelers”  calling themselves this, makes it look like they like being homeless because most people like traveling. She could have just called them homeless. But, she called them travelers, making their lifestyle sound more appealing.

            I think that the author wanted us to not feel bad about homeless youth because they don’t feel bad for themselves. I used to think that homeless youth were living horrible, loathsome lives that they hated, but now, I think that they are completely ok with the lives they are living, and choose not to go anywhere safer than the streets. I would like to learn about what the kids in homeless shelters think about their situation.