Dear Reader,
The book Kick is about a kid, Kevin Johnson, who got in trouble for driving a car that was not his. Kevin is a 13-year-old boy who was trying to help his friend Christy who is struggling with her family. Kevin got in a car crash not too far away from Christy’s house when the cops came and arrested him. Kevin had to go through court and was in juvie for a little while when the officers were working out the case. Sergeant Brown took interest in this case because he wanted to keep young children out of trouble. Another reason being is that Kevin’s Dad was a former police officer before he was shot on duty. The judge of this case was Bill Kelly and he was a friend of Sergeant Brown ever since they were kids. Kevin also plays soccer and was very concerned that he was not going to be allowed to play his championship game with having charges of grand theft auto and kidnapping. Kevin has to talk to Sergeant Brown an awful lot because Sergeant Brown wanted to keep him out of trouble as much as possible. There were other cases going on in this story, but it did not have too much to do with Kevin. Kevin played in his soccer games, went all the way to the finals, and blew it with the last penalty shot. During the case, the officers talked to McNamera who is Christy’s Dad. McNamera was planning to press charges on Kevin so he would learn his lesson along with to get his car repaired. There was one night Christy’s family, Kevin’s family and Sergeant Brown had dinner. Sergeant Brown talked to McNamera about the case and how to help his wife with her depression problem. The next day McNamera told Christy that he was not going to press charges on Kevin. That gave Kevin’s Mom and Grandma a sigh of relief because Kevin was a very good boy and they just could not see how their child or grandchild could do such a thing and go back into juvie. The theme to this book is fortitude. The reason being is that Kevin got into a car crash and he could have been seriously injured and he was in danger the whole time he was driving that car. Kevin faced mental difficulty because he was struggling to keep the case under control as in how stressed out he got about whether or not he could play soccer and how his life would be changed if he had to be in juvie any longer than he had been. Last but not least, Christy’s mom also went through mental difficulty with her depression issue and is now doing better because McNamera set up a hospital date to help her get through it.
Sincerely,
Abby Hersey
“Anger is only one letter short of danger” No author
Dear McNamera,
I am very sorry for taking your car and crashing it. Christy called me and said she wanted to meet. When I got there, she got out of the car and told me to drive. I was thinking the whole time that driving a car was a bad idea because I was only 13 and was not ready to drive. Christy wanted me to take the car back to your house because she was afraid you would freak out on her if the car wasn’t there. We took the car because Christy said her mom needed help with her depression and that you hit and abused her to try and get the depression out. Christy said she was tired of how much stress she is going through with her mom and you. We didn’t mean to get into any trouble at all we were just trying to take the car back to your house before you found out, but that didn’t happen. I am sorry for putting your daughter into trouble by me driving a car under age and risking her in an accident and getting injured. I promise I will never take your car or even get in your car until I get permission from you. I am truly very sorry for taking your car, risking your daughter’s life, and causing trouble with the case. I am very thankful that you did not press charges and let me stay out of juvie.
Sincerely,
Kevin Johnson
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
“I saw this young kid who jumped into this car with another young girl who looked around the age of 13. I was surprised when I saw the boy who also looked 13 to get into the car when the girl got out and told him to drive. I was thinking the whole time that this could not be good when a 13 year old is driving a car that was not his. They started to speed off and he was swerving an awful lot. I was going to call the police, but with as many police that we have driving around at at night. They did not get very far until they crashed into a light pole and damaged the car. The police car was already at the scene. I thought these kids were so brave to hop in a car and risk their life when they should not be driving a car in the first place. I was scared for the kids because there are crazy people out on the roads and every time I get out onto the road I get scared to drive and don’t want any one to hit me.” By: Pauline Dari
“Bravery is being the only one who knows you're afraid.” ~Franklin P. Jones
“You can't be brave if you've only had wonderful things happen to you.” ~ Mary Tyler Moore
“If you are out of trouble, watch for danger” ~Sophocles
Reflection:
In my multi-genre project, I chose four different genres for the project. One of the genres that I chose was a police report. I chose the police report because in the story a 13-year-old kid steals a car and the police report I filled out was a stolen car report for the police. It goes along with my theme because it is part of bravery and dangerous. The 13 year old was being brave for one stealing a car and two he was in danger because he was driving the car. Another genre that I picked was a wanted poster. The wanted poster goes along with my theme because people are in danger that a 13 year old is driving a car. Therefore, I put a picture of a 13-year-old boy in a wanted poster and put information about him. The third genre I picked was an apology letter. Since the boy put this girl in danger and put her father into a lot of fear because he was risking her life, I decided that an apology letter from the boy, Kevin, to the girl’s father would be a way to show he was very sorry for putting her through danger. Last but not least, my fourth genre was an eyewitness account because when there is a police report filed or someone goes on trial, there are times that people seethe whole crime. I wrote an eyewitness account because someone saw Kevin get into a car with another girl who was also 13 and they describe want happened and how they felt about these kids being brave. Some of the difficulties that I had while doing this project was having to find a blank police report for a stolen car and trying to figure out what to put in the information boxes due to the fact that I have never had to fill out a stolen car police report. I also enjoyed this project because it gives me a chance to create my own project and be creative. It allowed me to not have to follow too many strict rules and add stuff that did not have to be part of the project.
“There are bad people who would be less dangerous if they were quite devoid of goodness.” ~ François de la Rochefoucauld
Works Cited
Tjpieper. “Our 13 Year Old Soccer Playing Friend.” Photograph. Flickr®. 2009. 25 March. 2011.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reflectedlight/4019456052/in/photostream/
Brown J. Lawrence.” Strategic Intersection Safety Program Guide.” Photograph. FHWA Safety. 2010. 25 March. 2011. http://safety.fhwa.dot.gov/intersection/resources/fhwasa09004/page3.cfm
"Danger Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. <http://thinkexist.com/quotations/danger/>.
"Bravery Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. <http://thinkexist.com/quotations/bravery/>.
"Danger Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. <http://thinkexist.com/quotations/danger/2.html>.
"Danger Quotes." Find the Famous Quotes You Need, ThinkExist.com Quotations. 2010. Web. 26 Mar. 2011. <http://thinkexist.com/quotations/danger/4.html>.
