Characters

Raphael, Gardo and Rat all have same things in common, loyalty, intelligence and they trust each other to make the right decisions.  These characters are very similar because they all trust each other. They are different because not every one of them are as brave, or smart, or fast. They are all different in their own ways. I think I’m more like Jun-Jun, because if I have to depend on myself, I am able to and people underestimate me just like people underestimate him because he is small.

Empowerment

By the end of the novel, ‘Trash,” Rat states, “Jun – no longer Rat. My name is Jun-Jun” (p.217).  I believe he says this because he no longer thinks himself as a rat, he doesn’t think he is worthless or useless. Raphael and Gardo enable this by treating Jun-Jun with respect, and treating him like a friend. After the adventure Raphael, Gardo and Jun-Jun have, Jun-Jun realizes that he is needed and he is important. I believe that after this adventure Jun-Jun realized that not only Raphael and Gardo count himself as a friend but Father Julliard and Sister Olivia too, that is when he gained self-respect towards himself and decided that he isn’t going to be called Rat anymore, he is going to be called by his name, Jun-Jun.

This Story is About...

This story is about 3 boys on an adventure trying to solve a crime an innocent man was framed for, it is about trust because Raphael, Gardo and Rat have to depend and trust each other to not turn each other in or leave each other, this story is also about changes, changes happen when Raphael and Gardo found Jose Angelico’s bag and when Raphael got back from the prison; Rat, Raphael and Gardo had become more brave and also smart, courage is one main point in this book because it takes a lot of courage to go against the law, the police and the senator.