Where Now?

Yesterday, Henry brought home from school his most recent writing project. He wrote a book about his "immigration" similar to a book called "Esperanza Rising" that they had been reading in class.

This is the cover:

Before I was allowed to read the book, I was first forced to read the "blurb" on the back cover. According to Henry, this was to whet my reading appetite. He must have been paying attention to the purpose of a "blurb." I told him that it was so appetizing that I just could not wait to read more:

Once I had finished the blurb, Henry demurely excused himself to the back porch to await my review. He was so cute and nervously excited about this project. When I finally went out to see him, I was teary-eyed. He took that as a good sign and wanted to know " if I REALLY liked it??" I won't scan in all the pages, but here is the text. Punctuation, spelling and what not are verbatim.

WHERE NOW? By Henry Wisniewski

Chapter One:

A little baby boy named Savata (Sov-a-ta) was born in Cambodia. Cambodia is South of China, East of India and North of Singapore (in the middle of Thailand and Vietnam.) The weather is steamy hot about 90-110 degrees F. The animals that live in Cambodia are poisonous vipers, Greedy monkeys, stray dogs, deadly spiders (sometimes as big as a plate) and working termites. (The hills would be 6-7 ft tall.)

Chapter Two:

Soon after birth Sovata went to a poor orphanage in Phom Penh the capital of Cambodia. The babies slept in hammocks and the orphanage was like a military tent that had only one entrance and no windows. Instead, Everything was open. After a few months Sovata got adopted by two kind Americans named George and Wendy. The took him to the U.S.A.

Chapter Three:

Sovata was amazed by the great new land of Washington D.C. Especially the National Monument. In his new kind family he had one older brother named George and one older sister named Shannon. Sovata got an American name Henry. He lived there for 2 years until he moved to Tokyo Japan.

Chapter Four:

Tokyo Japan was where Henry grew up eating sushi rolls and going to an American School (A.S.I.J.) (It was great for him) He lived there for four 1/2 years. While he lived there he had 2 houses that required passwords. Then he got on a big airplane and left to a place in Europe.

Chapter Five:

Next stop was Frankfurt Germany. He made nice new friends and each school day he had German lessons. He got an English bulldog and named it Otto. He was trembling when he got his dog because a fierce dog had bit him once. Would it be the same? He lived there for two 1/2 years and moved again.

Chapter Six:

London, England was next. He finally was able to live in a single family house. Otto was not able to come with the family to London because he had to be tested for rabies. Henry was waiting for his dog to come but it seemed like centuries. Otto finally arrived 4 months later. Henry threw his arms out to pet and greet his dog. He lived there for 1 year and then moved again.

Chapter Seven:

Right after Summer camp in New Hampshire Henry moved to San Francisco. He ran from the airplane and threw out his arms to greet his parents that he hadn't seen for 5 long weeks while he was away at camp. He was glad they would maybe finally stay in S.F. but he never knew if they would stay or go.

Chapter Eight:

San Francisco was great with a new small school called S.F.S., making great new friends, and loving the new house. He also liked to view the sun set over the ocean every day. I was spectacular.

About the Author (written by the Author...): Henry is 10 years old and has one brother, one sister, one Mother and one father. This book is about his challenges immigrating. He lives at XXXX in San Francisco and goes to school at the San Francisco School.

I mean HOW damn cute is that?? What a great kid! We move him all over the world, and he still views it mostly with rose-colored glasses. But, for the record, he has never been to the Washington Monument. Also, he was never bit by a dog, fierce or otherwise. His brother, George-the-Younger was indeed terrorized by a dog at an early age. I just wanted to point these out, as I didn't want any horrendous James Frey thing raining down on our house.