Characters
The protagonist in the story who is under house arrest
Timothy
the inciting incident of the plot
Timothy steals a wallet and uses the stolen credit card to purchase medicine for his brother.
When he chokes we use the suction machine
and it is so loud
like a jackhammer drinking a Slurpee
simile or personification
a single line of poetry
verse
youth or child
juvenile
The protagonist's best friend
Jose
Timothy keeps finding this on the doorstep
bags of food
The tube protects the hole
but it lets in a lot of germs
like a superhighway to his lungs,
so that's not good.
simile
space on a page not covered by print or graphics
white space
the state of being kept prisoner in your own home, rather than in prison
house arrest
The protagonist's therapist
Mrs. Bainbridge
Marisol is trying to teach Levi this skill
sign language
But it felt like ages
eons
eternities
stars imploded and were reborn
new planets formed
hyperbole
repeating of words or phrases throughout the poem
repetition
period of supervision over a criminal, ordered by the court instead of serving time in prison
probation
The protagonist's probation officer
James
the reason Timothy keeps putting his dad's belongings in the trunk of the car
He doesn't want any reminders of his father in the house; he is angry that his father left the family.
You can't hear an angry burrito cry
when that angry burrito
is a baby with a trach
wrapped in a blanket
so that his arms and legs can't move
metaphor
a picture in the reader's mind that the poet creates with words
imagery
a breathing tube placed into a hole in your neck to help you breathe
trach
The protagonist's brother
Levi
Timothy is most nervous that this will happen to Levi (at the end of the Winter section)
He is afraid that levi will catch his cold and that he will get sick.
before the morning
when my head was full of fairy-tale dwarves
named Foggy and Frosty and Sleepy and Crazy.
allusion
literary tools used to help the reader create a picture in their mind; the words often do not mean what is actually written on the page
figurative language
a youth who has been found guilty by a judge of breaking the law
adjudicated delinquent