New Beginnings

Summary
 pages 42-120
           In this part of the story David gets use to his new home and he gets introdiuced to his social worker, Ms.Gold, who becomes his best friend. David had many private sessions with Ms.Gold where he talked about his feelings and what his mother did to him. As the days got closer to the trial David started getting mixed feelings about telling the judge the truth, because he felt that he was betraying his mother. In the end David decides to tell the truth when he notices how he has changed for the  best after moving in with Aunt Mary. After David became a ward of the court he stayed with Aunt Mary for a while and then he moved in with his new foster mom Lilian Catanze. He became close to his foster brother Big Larry but he always got into fights with Larry Junior. To my surprise David's biological mother visited David with his brothers and brought him his old bike which he had only drived twice. His mother did not talk to him or acknowledge that he was there which made him feel that he wasn't loved and made him wonder why his mother didn't love him. David starts living the life of  a normal kid now he rides his bike whenever he gets the chance and his relationship with Lilian starts growing into a mother-son relationship.

 Quote
       "I remember August 21,1973 as my day on my bike. That day was the first time I felt that I was a normal kid, caught up in the splendor of a never-ending day. For years I heard the sound of kids zooming down the street, screaming with joy as they flew by on their bikes." (Pelzer 107) This quote shows that David never had the chance to be a kid. This is a good example of how David's life has changed for the good since he left his mother's prison.

 Reaction 
         Dave Pelzer uses a lot of strong dialogue between the characters in this story to let the reader know what the characters are going through.  He doesn't use many other literary devices but the words he uses are powerful. In the quote he uses italics to make certain words standout. In the quote the words my and normal are italicized, because they show what the author is trying to explain. David was able to ride a bike after so many eyars without having to worry about anything else like a normal kid. He didn't live the life of a normal boy before the trial, but now he has freedom. This is an important quotation to understand because it kind of shows the main idea of this part of the story where he is adapting to his new life. He is able to enjoy the little things like other children to look up to and he can talk to her about how he feels without being afraid that Lilian is going to hit him. The quote shows the new beginnings of his life.