Best Read of 2013

In 2013, I read many books, magazines, and articles. The best thing I read overall was a series in the New York Times called “Invisible Child.” This great 5-part series was very long, and took hours to read, so it can be considered a story if not a book. The series, by Andrea Elliott, is about the life of a homeless family in New York City. The main focus of the articles is the Family’s eldest child, Dasani, a talented 11-year-old girl who faces many daily challenges. This was my favorite read of 2013 because it was heartbreaking, but and incredible story that changed my life.

I enjoyed this series so much because it amazed me how the family and Dasani can endure and keep on living. The family has eight young children, including a baby and a legally blind girl, raised by Supreme, the father, and Chanel, the mother. For three years they shared a 520 square-foot room at Auburn Family Residence, a homeless shelter in Forte Green. “It is a place where mold creeps up walls and roaches swarm, where feces and vomit plug communal toilets, where sexual predators have roamed and small children stand guard for their single mothers outside filthy showers.” In school, the children try their best to hide the truth of their home from other children, which is very sad. Their parents have struggled to provide for the family, partly because of their on and off addiction to drugs. Dasani is like a beacon of hope for this family, because she is always striving for greatness. Despite all her responsibilities at home, she still manages to work hard at school and get onto the honor roll. Dasani’s capabilities amaze me, especially because she still finds the time to do pull-ups every day, even at her age.

This series definitely had a large impact on my life. When it said “for children like Dasani, school is not just a place to cultivate a hungry mind; it is a refuge,” I realized how much more grateful I should be for having a proper education, rather than treating school as an annoying, boring part of my day. I should embrace school as a precious part of my life, because for others, school is all they have and can hope for. Also, why should I ever complain about doing dishes when an 11-year-old girl has to look out for 7 small children. Sometimes while reading the series, I just felt horrible for these people, considering that there are 22,000 homeless children in New York City alone. I feel so lucky and grateful to be born into the family I was born into because it isn’t the children’s fault that they were born into poverty, raised by drug addicts, and it isn’t necessarily the parent’s fault either because they were born poor too. I didn’t even mention all the tragedy the family goes through, which is more than I could possibly imagine. Now, I wish I never complained to my dad for not letting me have 200-dollar Jordan shoes, because any name brand is a dream for thousands or millions of kids living in poverty. It gave me a heartwarming feeling when the family finally got a small apartment by the end of the story.

In conclusion, “Invisible child” did more than become the best thing I read last year, it made me rethink many aspects of my life. I think reading about a poor family in great detail, a family that seemed to strive off of nothing, was a great experience for me. I learned so much and became much more grateful for everything I have. This series was beautifully written with great detail and deep emotion, and can change anyone’s life.