Applegate, K. (2015). Crenshaw. New York: Feiwel and Friends.
As I navigated my Facebook about a year ago, I came across the image below and I immediately shared it because you it reminded me of my childhood. You see, my childhood was a happy one. I may not have had everything I wanted, but I sure had everything that I needed. I never knew my parents struggled to make ends meet.
My dad was a teacher in Mexico and so because he had a good career one would have never thought they ever struggled. One of the stories they have shared with us was that when my two older brothers were little, my dad had to pawn his watch because they needed to buy milk for my two brothers. And the sad part is that he was never able to get it back. My senior year in high school, I distinctly remember that my mom, dad, and I were home alone on Thanksgiving Day and instead of a traditional meal we were going to have to settle for potatoes and tortillas. My dad owned a junk yard and it so happened that that afternoon a couple of teenagers stopped by the house asking my dad if the windshield on the car hooked to his tow truck outside our house was for sale. He got $40 for it, mind you he could have gotten at least $300 for it but he was desperate. By dinner time, he had already bought the necessary ingredients to make a better meal.
But you know what? Despite all this, they never troubled us with their worries. They never hinted frustration. They let us be kids.
So when Jackson's parents tried their hardest to keep their struggles from him and Robin, I totally understood. I have two children of my own, Nathan who is 9 and Logan is 4, and it would pain me greatly to bring my adult nonsense to them. I can't even begin to imagine the hurt and frustration his parents felt at knowing their children went to bed hungry and that they had to "trick" themselves into believing that they were not hungry. Heartbreaking, isn't it?
It is truly heartbreaking to see how worried Jackson was throughout. Although he was so mature for his age, he was still scared, actually terrified of the unknown. And who can blame him? Putting myself in the shoes of his parents, I feel as though I would have done exactly the same. I would have tried protecting my children from the cruelty of the situation. And even though Jackson resented them for doing so, he understood their reasons. In the end it turned out that even Robin was trying to protect her brother by tricking him into thinking the purple jelly beans were magic.
All this is heartwarming. His parents protected him and Robin from the crudeness of their reality. He protected Robin from the worries he was experiencing. And Robin in a way protected him as well, or at least attempted to protect him by bringing him some sort of wonder with the mystery of the purple jelly beans.
Now the question of Crenshaw's appearance is what intrigued me throughout. Quite frankly, I never had an imaginary friend. I have always found the possibility strange, maybe even a little crazy. But who am I to say anything if I never had one? I found the idea that as Crenshaw declared so himself, he was there because Jackson needed him, so sweet. In Jackson's case, because he relied so heavily on facts, and because he hated lying, he kept his troubles to himself and was unable to share his fears with anybody. The first time around, the first time his parents lost their house, Robin was way too little for him to talk to. And that's precisely the time in which Crenshaw appeared for the first time. The second time around, he did precisely what his parents did to him, he kept the facts from Robin so that she would not worry. The only other person who he could have trusted, he refused to speak to about the problem because naturally he was ashamed of telling her. We find in the end that the truth set him free. He was afraid of revealing the agony of his life's troubles to Marisol, which of course is understandable. So because again, he needed someone, Crenshaw made a second appearance.
Crenshaw is the tale about a family who struggled but even within their hardships, they never lose sight of what a family is and that despite these hardships, one must never lose hope that things will sort themselves out, even if it takes time, things will surely get better.
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