Gil and Judd

I found this section in TBL to be kind of creepy. These two men, one who wanted to get with Toby's mom and the other guy was his wingman. They thought if they could get Toby to like him then he would feel safe if the man was with his mom. At first they offer lunch and would give Toby a hamburger but he got a sandwich instead. Then the men said he would get him a bike. They were just full of bs. They just wanted to make the mom feel happy that they were acting caring and nice to Toby. When Toby's mom gets home from her date with one of the men she was crying and I felt like he just took advantage of her.

Stuck

In this chapter you see Jack's mom get caught up in another, what seems to be, some kind of abusive relationship. Or, in a more accurate statement, a dud relationship. Jack's mom reminds me of Liz's mom, how they're always getting stuck in a line of bad relationships. Why is this occurring? Just like in Jack and Liz's situation, they're in an unstable environment, more particularly: the moms are in bad sexual/romantic relationship(s). Both Ma, and Jack's mom want better for their children, and have little support, so they find themselves caught up in bad relationships that are promised to help support not only them, but their children. They each only wanted what's best for their children, and sometimes what's best for one person isn't the best for another. I think by the end of the book Jack's mom will realize there's better ways to support Jack, and will find herself becoming more independent, than male dependent.

Sketchy scene

This last section was really shady. There is definitely something up with these 2 creepy guys. Where did they even come from? It seemed like all of a sudden the story was engulfed by these guys, asking questions, inviting them over, acting a little strange. I'm surprised jack wasn't suspicious about how the guy was separating Jack from his mom, while the other man was with his mom. Then they began asking all these other questions. Something is definitely up.

The cycle of time that never seems to end

I think that Jacks mom is in too deep she needs to chill and think about what she's doing. At the same time I think Jack needs to do the same i mean he wants his mom to go on a date with Gill while having trust in him that he won't destroy their home. And the only reason he wants her on the date is so he can get the bike that Gill promised. And in the process her heart got broken and he never got the bike so I think that Jack and his mom need to think about the men they see and know about before they let them in their life.

The wing man

I thought this reading was funny, but there were no connections. I thought this was funny because there was these two random guys walk up to Toby's mom and are hitting on her. Another reason why I thought it was funny was because Gil was paying attention to Toby, making him lunch, and buying the best bike on the market, and then Judd is getting good with the mom, that's why I called it wingman.

False Hope

To me something that is a motif in This Boy's Life and Breaking Night is false hope Toby has been offered false hope by his mom all the time, but now he gained more false hope from Gil his false hope always turns out bad as you expect. In Breaking Night Liz was showered in false hope by Carlos about money, shelter, and all that good stuff. Let's just hope Toby gets some trusty hope.

Jack: Mommys angel and Neighbor hood delinquent.

Jack thinks he is one of the baddest coolest kids around that lives in a bounding house. Him and his friends are always causing trouble,stealing ciggarettes, and making dumb remarks to,his friends sisters and the tv. At this point in his life that makes him cool. When in reality it makes him detestable to most people. His moms friend Marian sees right through his act with his mom she knows he's trouble and not the little angel his mom thinks he is but she kinda just keeps her mouth shut about it. But hey to most kids he's living the dream being a "badass" and getting away with it.

Family

After reading these few sections in the book, you can tell that his mom does love him and she tries to discipline him. He knows that his mother cares but the discipline part is hard for her. Because Toby's mother is a single mom there isn't always someone there to tell him right from wrong, because she has to work to support them. I think from his actions that he does is from not knowing right from wrong. If he had a good father figure in his life Toby wouldn't be getting into doing some of the wrong things that he does.m

Twist plot

What was a big twist in the story was when terry silver got home with his friends and pulled out the nazi arm band. What shocked me the most was the fact that he is Jewish and he does this when no one is home at his house. I think he does this because his dad left him and his mom and went and has a new wife, also the fact his dad was Jewish too so he wants to be something that doesnt like the Jews just like the nazis..

Devious little Ba...

Toby yet again is getting in to trouble and in my opinion it is just going to keep increasing... I feel that Toby uses juvenile behavior to cover up that he have pretty bad life home as some kids do and really it can turn out to shape Toby as person very greatly or very poorly... I really don't want to wait to find out.

Toby's Mess

During this book we've really gotten to knows about Toby's life. I feel like he has a great loving mom but she is not always there for him. For example when he would go and vandalize things she was at work. I know that's where she should be because she needs to put a roof over their head. Toby just needs to be more grown up and be responsible.

Toby's Out of Control

I feel like after getting to know Toby a little more hes an out of control 11 year old. The things he does is just not something kids his age would do. I feel like his friends have a bad influence on him because of the havoc they cause together. They all have issues in their lives so i feel like they can relate to each other, and just don't really give a care in the world so they can do whatever they want.

This Boys life...is a mess!

In this last section, the things I noticed most were that Toby and the kids he hangs out with have no supervision whatsoever. Why is this? Where is his mother, is she off to work, and just leaves him home to do whatever he pleases? This just blows my mind how he is 11 years old and has complete freedom. His mother has no idea about the types of trouble he gets into. Crashing stolen bikes into cars, stealing things, smoking, and so on. The other thing I don't understand is how these kids go from being dirt bags and "bad-asses," to then going home and watching Mikey Mouse Clubhouse!? Lol-what??? I guess that explains the section title, "Uncool."

Victim Of Circumstance?

As I continue to read, I have begun to see something between Breaking Night and TBL. In This Boys Life, we see Toby who has a somewhat stable Mother and 'okay' overall life, yes it is still a little off the hinges, but it is still a better life then Liz's. In Breaking Night we see that at a younger age than where Toby is,  Liz had to provide for her family and live with her drugged up parents. Liz's life was overall a train wreck and anyone who would look at her childhood would cringe. And yet I see that Liz had a worse situation than Toby by a lot, but she seems to be the better person out of the two of them. What I have found is that Toby is constantly finding himself to be the trouble rather than fixing the trouble or doing what he can to help. Toby has a somewhat stable part to his life and yet he is constantly trying to rock the boat. Liz on the other hand, has a unstable base to her and finds every possible way to steady herself and others. TBL vs Breaking Night has made me think about the ideas of circumstance and bettering yourself. I wonder when Toby will being to think about this too, and if he ever will.

Toby Is Not Liz

It's only still the beginning of the book but I'm already starting to make connections between TBL and Breaking Night. They're more differences than similarities.  Liz and Toby's situations are different, but similar in the way both lacked a stable home life and family. Liz didn't act out the way Toby has in the book so far (she did but that wasn't until she was a teen). Liz wanted to do good for herself, she wanted to go places, but most of all she wanted her parents affection. Toby? He wants to be a boy. He wants to talk about girls, hang out with friends, shoot guns, egg cars, make people mad, and not even care most of the time. He doesn't want to show love or affection, he wants to be feared and in control.
It just goes to show that no matter what situation you're in it's how you handle yourself that makes the difference. Scientifically, girls brains are 2/3 years ahead of boys (about - not in all cases - boys brains stop growing at 29 and girls around 24/25). But overall I've just been making connections like these - maturity, adaptation of situations - between the two books. Toby hasn't had good examples of men in his life, hasn't had a stable home, isn't educated enough to understand simple things (that are truly common sense - like: don't egg people's cars).  But it is also just apart of being a boy, a pre-teen, the whole rebelliousness of it. No one is exactly alike, I'm not trying to generalize genders, this just something I've noticed - similar situations but two different maturity levels.

This boys life uncool

I liked how Toby couldn't get along with Marian when they moved to the west part of Seattle but had to try keep up appearances with her by responding to her with yes or no ma'am

Starting in Seattle

At the start of the Vhapter Toby and his mom moved to West Seattle in a heart beat. Toby in Seattle was still the same kid he was making trouble left and right. Toby lived in Half timbered house with a landlorder with burnt sink from a fire, Toby thought he was an awkward man becaause he kept touching him. Toby met two new friends named Terry Taylor and Terry Silver they were both deeliquents like Toby. These boys only did tree things, cuase troble, go to the pawn shop and look at guns in the window, then go and watch Mickey Mouse club house, then go on a roof and stair at the man with a 55' Thunder bird.

Gun Control

Gun control should be regulated more for people like Toby. I know things were not so difficult then and gun control wasn't really a big thing or deal then. But when things like taking a gun and aiming it at someone out of your window that's when things start