We just had our second book club meeting. This time we decided to meet online, which did not work out as well as we had planned. I felt that we were not as focused as when we were meeting in person. I guess we live and we learn!
We discussed what success meant to us. In "Handbook for Boys", by Walter Dean Myers, Duke is talking about the rules he has for everything, including success. He mentions to Jimmy that he first needs to find out what success means to him, since it means something different to everyone. To me, success means raising caring and responsible kids, having a loving relationship with my husband, living in a nice little house, in a welcoming neighborhood and have friends and family whom I am close to. I would like to make a positive difference to the world, whether it is by the way I live my life, or in the way I will teach my future students. Jimmy does not give the question of what success is much thought at first, thinking it is an easy thing to figure out. We were wondering if he thinks Duke and his friends are successful, or if he thinks the drug dealer with the big car and the hootchie mamas on his arms is more successful. Considering he lives in Harlem, some of us thought Jimmy would look up to the man in the flashy car, with the flashy ladies, but some of us thought he is looking up to Duke at this point. Jimmy is a good kid, and I believe Duke is making him think about his life in a different way. He is making him think that life is not what happens to you, but that you have a hand in making things happen. If you have a goal in mind, and work at it, it will work out better for you than if you deal with life as it happens.
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