I picked this up as a book to take to read in the dining hall. A couple hours later, back in my apartment, I finished it. No deep reflections on it — it was different, and interesting.

Life is hard, there's no denying it. Being alive is probably one of the most rewarding, and painful things on this earth. Struggling to be someone important, whether it to someone, or even to be important to themselves. America is a deep, amazing book with an unapologetic view of this world full of hate, pain, and sadness, as we cling to the short lives we have the pleasure of having.

The premise of this book is hard to explain. Its true plot is never said flat out, but instead subtly told to the reader as you explore the memories of a young boy named America, who thinks he isn't worth finding. Its good, but it starts off slow, so you must have patience while reading. America, is a young adult, who is lost in the world, and doesn't believe he is good enough to be found anymore, as throughout his life he has been struggling to find his place in the world. Its no surprise that this book is mature, as seen from my previous reviews. There are swears, violence, and sexual abuse, so this book is not for the weak of heart. True, its not very gruesome or gory, but the foul language and subtle references tend to stand out if you are paying attention. And while we traverse throughout his terrible sad life, we see the true natures of humans, as we are amazing beings, and this world is not as wonderful and peaceful. Its just there, trying to be the best that it can for us, which makes it so damn beautiful, and sad.

America is a heartfelt story that teaches the readers in a magnificent way the natures of despicable humans, and how one boy can have such a disoriented life. America is defiantly a must read, and has very few who are willing to go the path that it does. We're all lost, but that's OK, because its OK to be lost, and to cry, and to feel sad, and not have reasons.

We meet America when he is seven years old, abandoned by his addict mother, the youngest of six. He is in a mental facility and meets with a psychiatrist. Told from his point of view, we see and feel how he feels, angry and very frustrated. We follow him as he is taken in by a foster mother, taken back by his mother, abandoned by her again, returned to the foster mother, abused, and eventually he murders his abuser and injures his foster mother as a result.

His psychiatrist shows the greatest patience with him and amazingly makes progress. The language of the book matures with America and becomes less raw and more sharing as he eventually is able to share his feelings and trust people again. ( )

America starts off as a book about a 15 year old boy who is in some sort of mental home. He is what you might typically picture when you picture the "bad boy" that has depression and tried to kill himself. He's stubborn, he curses all the time, and he refuses to talk to his therapist. He even occasionally throws chairs or other things.

However, the novel alternates between the present time, and America in the mental hospital, and the past. We learn that America was a crack baby, and grew up with a foster parent until he was in Kindergarten. He ten goes to visit his mother, who promptly abandons him to his older brothers (around ages 7 and 9). The three boys live on their own for 2 years. We continue to learn about America's past, and all of the horrible things he endured. In many ways we become sympathetic.

Although I kept wanting to read and find out more, I was also very disturbed while I was reading. I feel like you expect the story to go one way: you think that there’s the bad side, which is his mother, the drug addict, and two older brothers who have been living on their own for years from the age of 7, and then there’s the good side, which is sweet Mrs. Harper who takes good care of him. However, the “good side” isn’t all that good. Browning, Mrs. Harper’s half brother, really turns out to be a terrible person. He not only allows this 7 year old to drink alcohol, he also makes him read dirty magazines. What’s worse is that Browning also starts sexually abusing him. Turns out that living at Mrs. Harper’s isn’t so much better than living with his mother.

It really got me thinking about how important it is to raise children the right way. Of course you can’t always be perfect, but having a positive influence is so essential. The sad thing is, there are children who don’t have this positive influence. You can really see how America is learning the wrong things about life. Sometimes it seemed like he didn’t do what was right because he didn’t know any better, or people told him that it was wrong. For instance, when Browning told him not to bother Mrs. Harper, he was too young to realize that he really should go and talk to her. In many ways, I found myself blaming Mrs. Harper. Maybe that’s horrible to say, but if she was that old, and in that poor medical condition, she probably shouldn’t have been adopting a young boy. Aside from that, she should never have entrusted him to Browning. She may not have known that he was sexually abusive, but she certainly did know that he was an alcoholic and chain smoker. I’m not sure why she thought it was okay to leave America in his hands, instead of trying to find someone that could truly take care of him.

This book allowed me to see things from a point of view I might not normally see from. While it was disturbing, it was also interesting and at least a little bit hopeful at the end. ( )

This book is the story of a lost boy named America and his life through the various systems put in place to help. He drifts from one home to another, foster homes, different caretakers and even being homeless. I think this book would be affective in the classroom because it is so incredibly moving. This is a powerful tool for students to think about larger social issues ( )