Sketches
By Eric Walters
Reviewed by Zach, Grade 10
Rating: 4\5
Sketches, by award-winning Canadian author Eric Walters, is a standalone novel
that was published in 2007. I recently started reading some Eric Walters novels and this
one also did not disappoint.
Sketches is an eye-opening and gripping novel about teens living on the streets.
The setting is in the dirty alleys, streets, and subways of Toronto. There are 3 main
characters, each running away from home for their own personal reasons which are
revealed at the end of the book. They find each other on the streets and band together
to survive. Dana is a 15-year old teen who ran away from her mom and stepdad in the
suburbs. She is very artistic, loves to paint and is kind. Brent is a teen who comes from
a very religious family and is struggling with who he is. He has been on the streets for a
long time. Ashley is an experienced runaway from a dysfunctional and uncaring home.
Her and Brent are more streetsmart than Dana.
The plot of Sketches follows the day-to-day struggles of life on the street. Food,
shelter, money, and safety are all necessities that the 3 friends have to figure out. In
order to survive, they panhandle at subway stations, they sleep in abandoned buildings
and tent towns, and they dumpster dive for food. Dana, being new to the streets, is
ready to call a taxi and go home when she meets Brent and Ashley. They all quickly
become like family and look out for each other. One day, Dana was graffitiing a building
when a counsellor from Sketches noticed her talent. Sketches is an organization that
provides street kids with a place to be creative. They also offer free meals and a place
to stay for homeless teens. Dana goes to Sketches and creates art as a way to escape
from her past and her present. This is a safe haven for her and she enjoys
experimenting with oils, chalk, clay, and metal. She convinces Brent and Ashley to
come to Sketches and they each find their own artistic hobbies. By Dana doing art, she
begins to confront her past and why she ran away.
This book made me realize how hard the lives of street kids are. It is realistic and
descriptive thanks to the amount of research Eric Walters does for his novels. Sketches
is actually based on a real drop-in centre in Toronto. This book depicts the harsh reality
of street kids, but it also gives hope for a better outcome. I rate this book a 4 out of 5
because the plot was interesting and realistic to me and I liked all 3 characters. I would
recommend this novel to anyone who is interested in a realistic description of life on the
streets.
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Sketches By Eric Walters
Reviewed by Zach
September 13
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