Snitch

Chapters 17 through 20 get us to the end of the first half of the book. They are short chapterrs but a lot happens. There are many ‘interesting’ events, but I thought two things were critical.

The first is that without much setup we find that Natalie has become part of the group. Theresa, Jimmy, Annie, and even Piper treat Natalie in a friendly, respectful way. They seem to understand the things that she likes and does not like and they support her. This book is written in the ‘first person’ – as if Moose is talking to us. He acknowledges how the kids treat Natalie but he does not make any special note of it – except on page 111 where he says with some surprise, “it is almost as if she is part of our group”. She is part of the group – and it happened without him noticing. How did that happen?

The other event that I thought was critical was Moose’s surprise at his father’s anger over Moose’s participation (or non-participation) in the shirt laundering scheme. He seemed perplexed that his father would be angry just because Moose did not tell him what was going on while it was occurring. Pg 120 “you don’t want me to be a snitch do you?” When do you tell (and risk being a ‘snitch’, ‘tattle-tale’, ‘teachers pet’) and when do you stay silent (and risk something bad happening)?

(While not a ‘critical’ event, I thought it was interesting when the warden had the kids hand over the cash that was earned from the caper. Jimmy and Annie gave him money. Moose did not have any to give. The warden did not ask Piper if she had any. Moose thinks Piper will squirm out of this. What do you think?)