Kenny's Lessons In A Life Of The Watson

This book is primarily the story of the Watsons, a very close family of people who value their bonds and relationships with one another above all else. Kenny, like myself is the protagonist, who is the middle child of the Watson family. He is bright, drawn to reading, and level-headed, though he occasionally gets picked on by his older brother and classmates for his personality. He has a lazy eye, something else he often gets teased for. Which I can relate to because I grew up being teased about my facial appearance. Byron, who reminds me of my older brother is Kenny's older brother and the eldest child in the Watson family. Byron is a bit of a bully, and everything he does is done in order to make him appear "cool." He also has a tendency to disobey his parents and misbehave, as a result, his

Kenny, however, chooses to spend his time with Rufus, who unwittingly teaches Kenny a few very important life lessons. Kenny learns over the course of the novel that to be a friend means to stand by your friends and that, in the end, friendship is worth the effort. Kenny and his family are certainly not rich, but they are not poor, either. Though they do have to think about money and save wherever possible, they are able to live comfortably and afford the things they need. Rufus and his brother, however, do not have quite so much when they arrive in Flint. Class is a touchy subject for the Watson children, who do not genuinely understand what it means to be on welfare or what it is like to be truly poor. Other than economic class, though, social class also comes into play in this novel, particularly within the local school. The school social ladder determines who gets bullied and picked on and who does not, and almost serve as a representation of the wider adult world outside the classroom. As a ten-year-old child, Kenny does not often think about