With The Fire On High By Elizabeth Acevedo

Have you ever considered how a teen parent goes through their day-to-day life, even with the struggles of income, school and relationships with family and friends? Well if you haven't you should know for the average teen parent it is extremely difficult to deal with the struggles of income, school and relationships with family and friends without any help or guidance. In the novel With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo, the author uses plot events, motifs, and characterization to show that being a teen parent is very difficult without help or guidance. Acevedo does this with plot events. Emoni throughout the book has trouble with money. “Thank goodness Angelica lets me use her Netflix account” (Acevedo 5). This shows the reader that she

Even if I can’t offer a lot just yet” (Acevedo 371). This shows the reader that being a mother in general is a task that dwindles your income. But being a teen mom must dwindle even more due to the lack of good paying jobs that are available. Plot events is how Acevedo created the theme here. Acevedo used motifs to show the theme. In the book, Emoni uses food as a coping mechanism for a lot of her problems. In the book there are 3 parts and every part there is a recipe that represents how she is feeling at that point in the book. “Your heart when you miss something you love” (Acevedo 3). She is telling the reader that she misses those she has lost in her life in the past and the present for her to revel in the fact that she is now in a position where she needs them most, not just herself but the life she brought into her world. In the second part,. “Your ego when your full of regret” (Acevedo 141). She is trying to tell the reader in the quote that she is very regretful of her past mistakes, but she must face the fact she has made those decisions and she must now deal with the cards she was

Emoni, throughout the book, faces trial and triumph through her struggles as a teen mom when trying to engage in her daily life. “Emoni, vete. It’s time for you to head out. I'll fix her hair.” I don’t even care to look over at ‘Buela standing by the staircase that leads to the two bedrooms upstairs. “I got it, ‘Bulea. I’m almost done” You’re going to be late for school.” “I know, but. “ I trail off and it turns out I don’t have to say it, because in her way ‘Buela always understands. She walks over and picks up the comb from where I set it on the couch. “You wish you could be the one talking to her” (Acevedo 6). This tells us that she has a hard time in the morning trying to get herself and Emma ready for the day, but with the help of Buela it becomes a lot less stressful. Another example of this is, “The snide comments and behind-my-back chatter was happening before Angelica came out, when all the guys on the football team were trying to bag her and the girls all wanted her to sit with them at lunch. I waited for her to start talking mess, too, because it’s just the way things seemed to go even if we were close before, we became even closer then, Angelica? She shut that mess all the way