Surviving The Applewhites Analysis

In the book Surviving the Applewhites, written by Stephanie S. Tolan, a boy named Jake, who is an absolute delinquent, and recently burned down a school he was going to, is taken in by a homeschool in Wits End, ran by a creative yet crazy family named The Applewhites. Jake goes through the story meeting and gaining relationships with the whole family, then ultimately discovers he loves to sing, and that he doesn’t have to be a bad person. There are many different themes, but only one main theme. The main theme in Surviving the Applewhites is to always remember the importance of family. This is shown when Jake, an absolute delinquent at the beginning of the story who had no close family to help him be a good kid, met the Applewhites and slowly changed to become a very outgoing, smart, nice kid. This was because of the only people that have cared for him, and that was the Applewhites. He learned who he really was because of the Applewhite

Destiny was like Jake’s curious, outgoing, little brother throughout the novel. Without Destiny Jake wouldn’t be as outgoing as he is at the end of the book. If Destiny didn’t give him all the examples where he did whatever he wanted to and discovered new things everyday with that freedom instead of cause havoc, Jake never would’ve gotten involved in the play, or singing in general. Jake would’ve continued to be a bad person and do horrendous things if Destiny and him didn’t have their relationship. In conclusion, there are many different themes in Surviving the Applewhites but only one main theme. The main theme in Surviving the Applewhites is to always remember the importance of family. Because of Randolph, E.D. and Destiny’s bonds with Jake, Jake became an outgoing, creative, smart, theatre loving kid. Without the Applewhites being there as his family, he never would’ve fought for what he believed in and learned to love