Easy Avenue Book Report Essay, Research Paper

This story takes place in Ottawa in the 1950?s. It begins when 14 year

old Hubbo (short for Hulbert) O?Driscoll moves from Lowertown to live at

the Uplands Emergency Shelter. His mother died when he was born and his

father was tragically run over by a streetcar. It was then that he was sent to

live with Miss O?Driscoll who was married to a distant cousin of his dad.

Mr. O?Driscoll was ?missing in action? in the war, and although everyone

knew he had drowned in the Pacific, Mrs. O?Driscoll kept on believing he

was alive. During the summer Hubbo caddied for an extremely overly

stressed man named Mr. Donald D. DonaldmcDonald at the golf course by

the shelter. But that job ended when Mr. DonaldmcDonald had a heart attack

on the course. A young girl named Fleurette Featherstone Fitchell, who used

to go to Hubbo?s old school, also moved into building number 8 at the

shelter. Even though Hubbo knew all the rumors about her being ?dirty? they

became good friends. Hubbo and Mrs. O?Driscoll weren?t very well-off and

the only job she could get was being the cleaning lady at Hubbo?s new

school, which she didn?t mind but Hubbo sure did. He always avoided her

and told no one that she was his mother. Everyone at school knew who the

Hi-Y boys were. They were the most popular boys at school. Hubbo secretly

wanted to be in the club, but didn?t tell Fleurette because she thought it was

stupid. After much searching Hubbo finally found a job. Every Tuesday and

Thursday night Hubbo was to stay overnight at Miss Collar-Cuff?s house.

She was elderly, rich and lonely and needed a young lively boy to stay with

her, and read to her. One day the principal called Hubbo to his office and told

him he would be receiving 50 dollars every month, but he was not allowed to

reveal who it was from. One day Hubbo mentioned that he was friends with

Doug, the president of the Hi-Y Club to Fleurette. She started yelling and

accusing him of telling Doug about the rumors about her back in Lowertown.

Hubbo hadn?t mentioned anything about the rumors to Doug but Fleurette

still refused to talk to him for months. One morning the principal told Hubbo

he was sorry but Miss Collar-Cuff had passed away. Hubbo was devastated.

Hubbo decided his friendship with Fleurette meant more to him than some

silly Hi-Y Club. He went up to Doug, punched him, and forced him to tell

Fleurette the truth, that Hubbo hadn?t told him about the rumors. Fleurette

and Hubbo were friends again. When school was finally over everyone from

building 8 had a picnic. To Hubbo?s surprise Mr. Donald D.

DonaldmcDonald showed up, and confessed he was the one sending the 50

dollars a month. The mystery was solved. In that same day another mystery

was solved. Mr. O?Driscoll came home.

I think this book was quite a good example of a problem novel. It dealt

with a wide variety of problems instead of just focusing on one in particular.

For example, problems such as friends, family, school, jobs, and death. It

explained how the character dealt with these problems, whether it was the

right way or the wrong way.

All of the problems Hubbo experienced could really happen but in

some ways it was hard for me to relate to the character?s problems. For

example the story took place almost 50 years ago. Secondly this boy had to

deal with a life of being poor, while I am fortunate enough not to be in such a

position. Also, he had no mother or father, which I could not relate to. I

could, however, relate to the tragedy of the death of a loved one, fights with

friends, being embarrassed by your family, and the difficulty in finding a job.

But, I?m sure many people have to go through the problems similar to those

Hubbo experienced.

Yes, I would recommend this book. It?s a nice light read with great

characters and a fun plot. It allows you to see life in the eyes of an adolescent

boy and gives you a chance to see it from someone else?s perspective. But

most of all it helped me to really appreciate all the things I take for granted.