Response+to+Literature

The title of my independent reading book is __Romiette and Julio__ by Sharon M. Draper. The main setting of the book takes place in a school in Cincinnait, Ohio. The two main characters in this city was Romiette Cappelle and Julio Montague. Romiette was a sixteen year old African-American. The other character was Julio, who was a sixteen year old Mexican-American boy. The two were harassed by gangbangers in there school because they were in love. The central theme of the book was "love prospers even when there is threat".

I believe the central theme of the novel is "Love prospers even when there is threat." There was a gang in Romiette and Julio's school. They threatened, scared, and even kidnapped the two all because Romi was black and Julio was Mexican. They didn't want Romi to hang out with Julio because of that reason. An event that occur r ed was when Romi and Julio were walking near London Woods and the gang pulled up. They forced the two to a lake, tied them up in a boat, and set them out in the lake. The two got caught in a storm and thier boat got struck by lightening. romi almost drowned if Julio hadn't saved her and pulled her to shore. This could apply to real life because most gangs anywhere commit illegal acts and crimes

The protagonists in the in the story were Romiette and Julio. They were two sixteen year old kids in love. A quote that best describes the personality of Romiette is, "I am brown, like the earth, tall and slim like a poplar tree, and out spoken like the wind on a stormy day. I like mornings because of the possibilites..." This quote describes Romiettes looks and her outgoing personality. A quote that best describes Julio's personality is, "Julio loved to swim. He probably learned to swim before he could walk. Water was a second skin to him." This quote describes Julio's free flowing nature. The struggles these two had to face was trying to relax and be friends while a group of mean teenagers harrassed them. Mainly Julio had to keep his only friend after moving miles away from home to a city he didn't like. The two decided to stay together even though they were threatened if they didn't. The main characters changed by falling more in love and liking the home they had to live in.

I would recommend this novel to a high school student because it is an exciting love story and shows how two lovers survive a dangerous threat. A quote supporting this would be, "'Yeah, I liked it better when I was just Romi, the girl with the new orange sweater, not Romi, the girl who almost died in a lake.' 'Don't sweat it...But you'll always be special to me'". The element that I thought was very effective was how Draper created the chapters by switching back and forth from Romiette and Julio.The element I would change to improve the novel would be no element. I loved the novel exactly the way it is and think that others would as well. ​