Teen Forced To Stay In Fireplace

For my outside reading I went to www.cnn.com and read an article under the crime section titled Teen Forced To Stay In Fireplace. This article is about the abuse and torture of a 17 year old boy. Officials say the boy was once placed in a foster home several years ago after his father was accused of beating him. He was reported to have ran away from the home in 2007, but what really happened was he got kidnapped by Kelly Layne Lau and husband Michael Schumacher. While in their home he was tortured and abused in many different ways. He was forced to be chained to the fireplace or heavy table at all times. He suffered a sprained ankle from the chains, and there is now a perminent dent in his ankle. Also the couple would reportedly make him drink alcohol, smoke marijuana, and consume unidentifiable pills. He finally managed to escape the torture chamber by finding a spare second when the couple were not looking, jumped out the back door and limped to the nearest athletic gym, pleading for help. The couple were eventually identified and taken under arrest, charged with 13 counts of abuse. My reflection on this article is that what they did to this boy is horrible, and I am so glad they finally caught them. This article reminds me of the book i read, A Child Called It. That book is about a child who was also abused, in many different terrible ways. He was stabbed witha knife in the stomache, he was forced to live in the basement with no food or water, and when he did sneak a snack he was forced to throw it up into a bowl and eat it. Those are just a few of the things that he had to do, and it just makes me sick.

Here is the article I found on cnn.com http://www.kcra.com/news/18215190/detail.html

Fat Kid Rules the World

I have continued to read Fat Kid Rules the World for my outside reading assignment. What happened next in the book was that Curt followed Troy home, completely against Troy;s will. But Troy being the shy self concious kid that he is, did not object. When they reached Troy's home and climbed out of the taxi, they were rudely greeted by Dayle. Dayle is Troy's freshman brother who is pretty much the complete opposite of Troy. He is extremely athletic, playing juts about every sport imagineable, has a ton of friends, and is very confident in himself. He is also horribly mean to Troy, and always ridicules him and teases him for being his size. When Dayle sees Curt, he recognizes him instantly, and immediately dissaproves. Although Troy's brother and father didnt really welcome Curt into their household, Curt is not at all fased by this. He acts completely nonchalant about the whole thing and leaves when he feels the need. Before his departure he tells Troy to meet him tomorrow outside of the Gym during second period. Troy doesn't know how to react to this, considering he has never once skipped a single class in his life. But yet again, he refuses to object to this request, reminding himself that the last time somebody asked him to "hang out" was in the second grade. The next day Troy arrives at school, only to see a sight he has never seen before. Kids are crowded around his locker, his locker. He gradually gets closer to the mob of teenagers and realized Curt is the reason for this commotion. Nobody had seen Curt for months, and most people assumed him dead. When Curt looked up and saw Troy, he raced over to him in excitement. They talked for a little bit, then the bell rang. When second period rolled around, Troy had made the decision to meet Curt MacCrae outside the gym. After 45 minutes of standing by himself, Troy began to lose hope. He returned to feeling like a loser that no body cares about. Right as he was about to go back inside, Curt came running up. That is as far as i have gotten in the book. So far i really like this book, i think that it is really interesting and funny. However; i also think that it is sad how poorly Troy thinks of himself. I have come to hate his brother, Dayle. He is so mean to him and never quits mocking him about his size.