Chapter 17

This chapter discussed Tomaso's birthday, and how Torey's students helped make a 'party' for him. Tomaso was so excited to have a party just for him, and told everyone that NO ONE had ever thrown him a party, "Not ever." Of course this made me sad to read this, because it is just another reminder of how different childhood can be for some children in comparison to myself or others. It really makes one take the time to think about potential students and remembering that not everyone gets to have a special celebration, whether it be because their guardians can't afford it or simply don't care enough to make the effort. Lori was especially excited because she had gotten Tomaso a present. When he opened it, everything turned to chaos. It was a teddy bear. Previously Tomaso had mentioned that he had had a teddy bear and that it had been taken away by a bigger boy when he was little. Lori thought the bear was a good gift because she knew that his old bear had meant a lot to him. Tomaso yelled at Lori, telling her that she was stupid and that it was a baby gift, etc., clearly feeling like he had to maintain some dignity of some display of manhood. Tomaso took a scissors and stabbed the bear, ripping out a large portion of its stuffing. When Torey tried to calm Tomaso down, he told her to shut up, and ended up taking the scissors and holding it against her gut, threatening to hurt her. Things stayed silent in the classroom for a seemingly long time as he held the scissors against Torey, and finally he dropped the scissors and started crying. Torey held him for a long time, and when the day was finally over Tomaso came up to her and asked if she could fix the bear. When she said she could, Tomaso and Lori insisted that they stay after school until Torey was done stitching up the bear. Lori told Torey that she realized that Torey doesn't really care if things don't always work out so well. At the end of the chapter, Tomaso asks Torey if she loves him, to which she replies, "Yes. I guess that's another way of saying it." (pg. 178).

This is definitely showing that Tomaso is realizing that no matter how much he 'does wrong', Torey will still care about him and want him to be okay. This was a very touching part of the book because Torey is finally making more of an emotional connection with Tomaso, which she has been trying to make for a long time. I hope that I will be able to make these types of connections with even my most difficult students, as this bond helps make other things run much more smoothly.