City Neighbor | Teen Ink

City Neighbor

May 27, 2011
By jarvis BRONZE, Charleston, West Virginia
jarvis BRONZE, Charleston, West Virginia
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

The title of my book is called City Neighbor: The Story of Jane Addams. The author of my book is Judson, Clara. Copyright, 1951 printed in the U. S. New York. This book has 125 pages.

This book starts out when Jane was a little girl. She lied to her father but couldn’t sleep afterwards. She ran to her father’s room to tell him she couldn’t sleep for she had lied to him. Later on in the chapter of this book, you find that Jane has something wrong with her back. Her father takes her out in the buggy every time he goes somewhere. One day while riding with her father, she comes to a neighborhood where houses are filthy to her. She wonders why they don’t clean their home.

The book skips years and goes a few years ahead. Her father has remarried and Jane has another brother. Jane’s father decides to take the children to see an eagle named Old Abe. Jane and her brother are fascinated when they finally get to actually see the bird. The book goes forward a couple of years again when Jane makes her decision to go to Smith College at Northampton, Massachusetts. Her father does not want her to go; however, she ends up going to Rockford Female Seminary. After graduating, her father decides to take the family on a trip. While coming back her father suddenly become violently ill. He later dies in Green Bay. After spending weeks at her house mourning, she finally decides to go away with her brother. While studying she becomes very ill. A doctor comes to examine her and finds on she has an abscess on her spine. With surgery the doctor successfully removes it. For about a year Jane has to wear a heavy brace made out of metal and whale bone. Jane’s mother surprises her by taking her on a sea voyage to Europe.

While in Europe she sees poor and homeless people and feels sorry for them. Even after she searches for weeks looking and asking people on a way to help people in need she does not find one yet. Little does she know, there is a person that the book talks name Mr. Toynbee. He is trying to help people the same way Jane is. He accomplishes this by giving speeches and having people meet other people that also need help. After coming back to the U. S. Jane convinces a couple of friends to help her find a house on a street in Chicago because then immigrants from other countries would come to Chicago to start new lives. Shortly after coming to Chicago she sees a house that would be perfect to start a place to help other people. Later she brings a friend to see the house but cannot find the house. After a few weeks of searching for the house, she finally finds. She ends up buying the house and calling the house Hull-House. After moving in she struggles to find people who need her help. A woman one day comes in desperation for somebody to look after her children. That was the beginning of the Hull-House kindergarten. Eventually more and more people start to hang around the Hull-House.


Jane was born September 6, 1860 she died may 21, 1935.
Throughout her life she has won many medals and awards including the noble peace prize, she was picked as one the six leading Americans, president or the womans peace club, awarded the medal of military merit by the Greek Republic, president of the Pan-Pacific woman’s Union, and honored by the government as one of the thirty-five chosen for the Famous American Commemorative Issue. Hers was a ten cent stamp with her picture.

Overall the book was okay. I would recommend it to anybody who likes reading about books that talk about way to help other people. This would not usually be the kind of book I would read but it was better than I thought.


Similar Articles

JOIN THE DISCUSSION

This article has 0 comments.