Summary:
The book is coming to an end, but things are not getting good at all. That night Sammy had a dream that he was seating in front of his porch and he saw everyone passing by even his mother and Juliana waving him. He wanted to go hug Juliana but she was gone. Then the next day Sammy felt that something was bothering him the whole day. After School he was in Mrs. Apodaca's garden when he sees Rene's car pull up in front of his house and Gigi came out crying. It was Pifas, he was dead. Somehow Sammy knew this from the beginning, when he saw Pifas going away. Now Pifas was coming back in a coffin. The day after his funeral, Sammy had another dream where he saw Juliana again but this time she had someone with her, it was Pifas. He could see that he did not have any hands and that he was sad. Even though Pifas was short, he had big hands which he lost in the war. His body was buried in Hollywood while his hands were in Vietnam. Graduation was here and it was not the big deal. They have planned to spend the whole night partying but it did not happened that way. Rene took them to an abandoned farm at the back of the school where he had prepared a table where he had some bottles of wine, and plastic glasses. There was even chips. This was Rene's gift to his friend and even though they did not spend it partying they had a good time. One day Sammy was at work when they called him telling him that his father had an accident. His father was unconscious and they had to take his leg off. Sammy said he did not care about the leg, and that he just wanted his father to be alive. Things started to change even with Sammy's friends, Rene left because he was drafted, Gigi and Charlie formed a band and they moved to California and Sammy did not see them again. The night Gigi left Sammy went to the river and started to think about what his life has come to, he was a lost boy now, he did not have any friends, he had lost them. Pifas, Jaime, Angel, Rene, Juliana and Gigi, all of them they were gone. Now they were on their own and Sammy had to find a way to do the same no matter how much he missed them. Mrs. Apodaca was sick, she was not the same, her strength has gone away. Before she died she had a talk with Sammy and gave him a letter to give to her daughter Gabriela, who was now living with them, when she was older so she could know how she came from Mexico. Also she told Sammy to go to her house and look for a picture that she had with his mother. That night Sammy could not sleep so he went to her house and hold on to the picture until he fell asleep. Sammy still hears from Jaime. Eric finally responded to his letters and they got back together but then Eric was killed in a car , . Sammy's father also died one night when he got up at the middle of the night to get a drink of water and he had a stroke. The book ends with Sammy thinking back when he was a boy and he fell in love with Juliana. He also starts to remember how hos sister Elena, used to always ask him if he could be anybody , who he would be? He never had an answer back then but now he does. He would Jesus Christ and will go to all the graves of the people he loved and raised all of them back to life and hug then and kiss them and never let them go. By doing this he will be the happiest man in the world.
Quote:
"Things never end the way you expect them to. We start off down one road—toward a place we've picked out on a map. A place we've spent years imagining. Then something happens. And everything changes. (Sáenz 307)
Reaction:
This book was a coming of age book, and at the end we can see how Sammy, the narrator, grew up and learned a lot of stuff along the way from all the experiences he had and what happened to his friends. Death is basically the main idea of this book because most of the people Sammy loved the most died but most importantly he always learn something at the end. When I read this quote, it makes me think that no matter how perfect people want their life to be, or just they imagined it when they stated to develop common sense it does not end up the way you expected it to be. There are certain things that are going to come in the way that are going to force you to change the way you have planned it to be. But at the end, that's life and the things that happens just make you stronger and you always learn something from that certain experience.
Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood (Pgs 217-288)
Summary:
Things are not good in school because most of the teachers kind of hate him. Every little mistake he makes, it is like the end of the world for the teachers. Sammy, Gigi, and Rene have been having detentions because they were not obeying the dress code. So Gigi brought the idea that they should do a student's strike but Sammy did not like the idea and he refused to help them. One night, Mrs. Espinoza went to Sammy's house asking for his son, Reyes. Sammy told her that he was going to help her and will go out and find him. Sammy went to get Rene so he could help him. They finally found Reyes, who was on the floor dead because of an heroine overdose. During the Reyes funeral, Sammy went to Juliana's grave and started to tell her what has happened after she died. One day, Sammy got lonely and he decided to visit Rene's house. Rene's mother told him that she thinks his son was into drugs but Sammy lied to her bu telling her that he was not. So that night, he asked his father to borrow his car and he went to look for Rene. Sammy found him on the river, but Rene refused to go with him. They fought. Then Rene asked Sammy if he was okay and that he should leave. Sammy went to the car but then came back and grabbed Rene and told him that he should stop. Sammy was not planning in losing someone else. He had lost his mother because of cancer, he lost Juliana because to a bullet and he could not forget her, he lost Jaime because of an exile that he could not understand, and he lost Pifas to the army. Sammy was running out of people to loose so he decided to make a change. Now that he has found Rene, he was determined to find Gigi so that night he called her and told her that he was going to help them with the strike. At first the strike was successful but then it turned into a chaos, even the police came. But at the end they were not really in trouble because they were trying to make their voices heard. Sammy received letters from Jaime and Pifas. Jaime's letter said that he was doing okay and that he has written a lot of letters to Eric but he has not replied back. Pifas's letter, basically said the same and it also said that he really loved Gigi and that when he comes back from Vietnam he was going to marry her. He sent her a letter asking her to marry with him , but she did not know what to say so she consulted with Sammy, Angel and Rene, and they told her that she should lie to him by saying that she will because he is already in the war he does not need more suffering. Gigi was going out with Charlie so she decided to tell him that she was going out with him when he comes back.
Things are not good in school because most of the teachers kind of hate him. Every little mistake he makes, it is like the end of the world for the teachers. Sammy, Gigi, and Rene have been having detentions because they were not obeying the dress code. So Gigi brought the idea that they should do a student's strike but Sammy did not like the idea and he refused to help them. One night, Mrs. Espinoza went to Sammy's house asking for his son, Reyes. Sammy told her that he was going to help her and will go out and find him. Sammy went to get Rene so he could help him. They finally found Reyes, who was on the floor dead because of an heroine overdose. During the Reyes funeral, Sammy went to Juliana's grave and started to tell her what has happened after she died. One day, Sammy got lonely and he decided to visit Rene's house. Rene's mother told him that she thinks his son was into drugs but Sammy lied to her bu telling her that he was not. So that night, he asked his father to borrow his car and he went to look for Rene. Sammy found him on the river, but Rene refused to go with him. They fought. Then Rene asked Sammy if he was okay and that he should leave. Sammy went to the car but then came back and grabbed Rene and told him that he should stop. Sammy was not planning in losing someone else. He had lost his mother because of cancer, he lost Juliana because to a bullet and he could not forget her, he lost Jaime because of an exile that he could not understand, and he lost Pifas to the army. Sammy was running out of people to loose so he decided to make a change. Now that he has found Rene, he was determined to find Gigi so that night he called her and told her that he was going to help them with the strike. At first the strike was successful but then it turned into a chaos, even the police came. But at the end they were not really in trouble because they were trying to make their voices heard. Sammy received letters from Jaime and Pifas. Jaime's letter said that he was doing okay and that he has written a lot of letters to Eric but he has not replied back. Pifas's letter, basically said the same and it also said that he really loved Gigi and that when he comes back from Vietnam he was going to marry her. He sent her a letter asking her to marry with him , but she did not know what to say so she consulted with Sammy, Angel and Rene, and they told her that she should lie to him by saying that she will because he is already in the war he does not need more suffering. Gigi was going out with Charlie so she decided to tell him that she was going out with him when he comes back.
Quote:
"Something broke in me. Something broke. But that something needed to be broken. It did. Sometimes you have to tear something down so you can build something new" (Sáenz 250).
Reaction:
When I read this quote, the first thing that comes to my mind is that Sammy is starting to grow up and become a man. He is starting to realize this as he starts to understand that life is hard and is not the color of roses. A lot of things are happening to Sammy, first Juliana dies which affected him a lot, school is not good at all, Pifas is in Vietnam fighting in the war, Reyes died because of heroine overdose. So when I analyze this quote it makes me think that in order for someone to grow up they have to lost the things that they really loved so they can appreciate what they have and not waste their lives in doing stuff that will bring trouble to them. Sammy is becoming to a man and he is starting to realize things on his own such as knowing the limits of what is right and wrong so he does not regret his actions at the end.
Sammy and Juliana in Hollywood (Pgs 145-216)
Summary:
These few pages start with Sammy going back to his childhood years and explaining how he had no fear when he was a child. He was not afraid of school even if his English was not great. He spoke English at school and Spanish at home with his parents. When Elena, Sammy's sister was born, he was eight. But he was not jealous; he was excited about the fact of having a little sister. Rene, his friend, asked him what if his mother never came back from giving birth to Elena. But Sammy was not afraid. He saw fear as part of his future, something he had to learn sooner or later. Sammy learned about fear when he was in the confessional booth of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Sammy hated Father Fallon. Things had not change from Sammy's childhood relationship with Father Fallon, now that he was older. The end of the October of 1968, people were desperate for love, but not Sammy, love was the last thing he was thinking of. Rene told Sammy that his bad attitude about love was all because of Juliana but Sammy told him to shut up. That September, Sammy got a job at the Dairy Queen; he needed to work more than he needed love. Sometimes he'd flirt but when that girl reminded him of Juliana he would stop. It was Saturday night and Sammy had no plans so he decided to call Rene who already had plans with Angel. But Angel accepted to go on a date with him only if Gigi was going, so Rene told Sammy to go with them and he accepted. So they went out, the four of them, they went to get some burgers at Shirley's, and then they went to a party at Charlie Gladstein's. After the party they went to the river, Sammy and Gigi got out of the car so Angel and Rene could spend some time together. While they were in the river, Gigi asked Sammy if his parents have ever told him the story of "La Llorona". He said yes, and Gigi asked him to say it to her. The story of "La Llorona" is the story of a woman that had three kids and a happy family. But one day he went away and never came back. She goes crazy after that because she did not have money to feed their children. Then one day somebody tells her that her husbad went away with another woman. To make herself feel better, she went to the river every night, and cried to console herself. One day there was not food at home so she decided to take her three children to the river and drown them. After that she went really crazy and went to the river searching for her children, screaming "Mis hijos. Mis hijos". Gigi did not like the way Sammy said the story because he said it too fast. For Gigi, "La Llorona" was the saddest love story in the world because a woman loses her husband, drowns her children and searches for them forever. After that Gigi asked Sammy if anybody have ever loved him. He answered his dad, his mother, his sister, and Juliana. Then Gigi said that she loved him too. But Sammy told her that he does not love her the way she wants him to. Then they heard voices yelling, there was fight, Gigi went back to the car, Sammy and Rene went to see what was happening. They were beating up Eric, the white boy that spoke perfect Spanish, and Jaime, Sammy's friend. They were calling them "queers". They started to hit them because they saw them kissing. Rene and Sammy took them to the hospital because they were really bruised. Jaime spent one week without going to school but when he went people were discriminating him. Eric did not go to school. Jaime said that Eric was moving to Pennsylvania, and that he was going to go to California as well. When they went to say good bye to Jaime, Rene asked him if he really loved Eric and he said yea. In 1968, love was everywhere,
Quote:
"I thought about how everybody at school was so desperate to find a hand to hold. As if we were all about to die. And we couldn't wait anymore. We'd waited so long already. And they told us that it was coming, at any moment, any moment now, we were going to find it, We were going to turn around and look into the eyes of a girl or a boy and we were going to find everything we had always been looking for" (Sáenz 211).
Reaction:
As I read this quote, I compare it with love and teenagers nowadays. As the quote says, "everybody at school was so desperate to find a hand to hold", this is seen right now in really young people that be having boyfriends instead of doing what is according to their age. It is true that life is only one and we have to enjoy every minute of it but everything is a process, and a process has steps. It is true that everyone wants to have somebody by their side supporting them whenever they need help but they need to do it one step at a time instead of doing it all together when they are not even ready for it. In relation to the book, love is a way for these people to feel better about them and to have someone to support them by their sides. This is because during this time there is a lot of racism and a war is going on. As it can be seen with Jaime and Eric, just because it was an enigma for two guys to be kissing each other. Their actions caused a controversy in school, and the discriminations of the other students towards them.
These few pages start with Sammy going back to his childhood years and explaining how he had no fear when he was a child. He was not afraid of school even if his English was not great. He spoke English at school and Spanish at home with his parents. When Elena, Sammy's sister was born, he was eight. But he was not jealous; he was excited about the fact of having a little sister. Rene, his friend, asked him what if his mother never came back from giving birth to Elena. But Sammy was not afraid. He saw fear as part of his future, something he had to learn sooner or later. Sammy learned about fear when he was in the confessional booth of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. Sammy hated Father Fallon. Things had not change from Sammy's childhood relationship with Father Fallon, now that he was older. The end of the October of 1968, people were desperate for love, but not Sammy, love was the last thing he was thinking of. Rene told Sammy that his bad attitude about love was all because of Juliana but Sammy told him to shut up. That September, Sammy got a job at the Dairy Queen; he needed to work more than he needed love. Sometimes he'd flirt but when that girl reminded him of Juliana he would stop. It was Saturday night and Sammy had no plans so he decided to call Rene who already had plans with Angel. But Angel accepted to go on a date with him only if Gigi was going, so Rene told Sammy to go with them and he accepted. So they went out, the four of them, they went to get some burgers at Shirley's, and then they went to a party at Charlie Gladstein's. After the party they went to the river, Sammy and Gigi got out of the car so Angel and Rene could spend some time together. While they were in the river, Gigi asked Sammy if his parents have ever told him the story of "La Llorona". He said yes, and Gigi asked him to say it to her. The story of "La Llorona" is the story of a woman that had three kids and a happy family. But one day he went away and never came back. She goes crazy after that because she did not have money to feed their children. Then one day somebody tells her that her husbad went away with another woman. To make herself feel better, she went to the river every night, and cried to console herself. One day there was not food at home so she decided to take her three children to the river and drown them. After that she went really crazy and went to the river searching for her children, screaming "Mis hijos. Mis hijos". Gigi did not like the way Sammy said the story because he said it too fast. For Gigi, "La Llorona" was the saddest love story in the world because a woman loses her husband, drowns her children and searches for them forever. After that Gigi asked Sammy if anybody have ever loved him. He answered his dad, his mother, his sister, and Juliana. Then Gigi said that she loved him too. But Sammy told her that he does not love her the way she wants him to. Then they heard voices yelling, there was fight, Gigi went back to the car, Sammy and Rene went to see what was happening. They were beating up Eric, the white boy that spoke perfect Spanish, and Jaime, Sammy's friend. They were calling them "queers". They started to hit them because they saw them kissing. Rene and Sammy took them to the hospital because they were really bruised. Jaime spent one week without going to school but when he went people were discriminating him. Eric did not go to school. Jaime said that Eric was moving to Pennsylvania, and that he was going to go to California as well. When they went to say good bye to Jaime, Rene asked him if he really loved Eric and he said yea. In 1968, love was everywhere,
Quote:
"I thought about how everybody at school was so desperate to find a hand to hold. As if we were all about to die. And we couldn't wait anymore. We'd waited so long already. And they told us that it was coming, at any moment, any moment now, we were going to find it, We were going to turn around and look into the eyes of a girl or a boy and we were going to find everything we had always been looking for" (Sáenz 211).
Reaction:
As I read this quote, I compare it with love and teenagers nowadays. As the quote says, "everybody at school was so desperate to find a hand to hold", this is seen right now in really young people that be having boyfriends instead of doing what is according to their age. It is true that life is only one and we have to enjoy every minute of it but everything is a process, and a process has steps. It is true that everyone wants to have somebody by their side supporting them whenever they need help but they need to do it one step at a time instead of doing it all together when they are not even ready for it. In relation to the book, love is a way for these people to feel better about them and to have someone to support them by their sides. This is because during this time there is a lot of racism and a war is going on. As it can be seen with Jaime and Eric, just because it was an enigma for two guys to be kissing each other. Their actions caused a controversy in school, and the discriminations of the other students towards them.