April Raintree Essay

Chapter 1
1. How is the setting depicted in Chapter One? What was your reaction?

In April Raintree, we first get introduced by the words of April—a 24 year old girl who is fairly content with her family, considering the different types of skin color and mixed blood. She begins to explain her unique family, and the approach towards where they live is suggested as well. Norway House, a small northern Manitoba town is a fairly low maintenance place, where you will find families living in poverty quite common. April’s family move around a lot, from place to place. She claims that she can only remember one street—and that’s Jarvis Avenue. This was a bit surprising to me at first, since the story takes place close to where I live as well. It’s also exciting, since the words of April are something that I can relate to, because of how she lives in Manitoba. April’s family continues to struggle with problems regarding money and relationship issues. Since their house is small, it is hard for her to relax or find the time to talk to their family, which consists of a mother who is usually quiet and calm, and a clumsy father who can get loud at times.

Chapter 2

2. Quote and discuss three significant events in this chapter.

As the story progresses, there are a lot of important events that the reader will take notice. For example, we get introduced to the scenario of Cheryl and April’s separation between each other and being placed into different foster homes.