Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
By Matt de La Pena
Published: 2015 by G. P. Putnam’s Sons
Age: 3 – 5
Typed pages: 4 typed; 29 pb
Story: about 800 words
This story is less than 800 words but it’s so full of atmosphere and personality.
The dialect of this story is such an important tool in this story. How they speak and what they say build character in this story. When Nana laughs; when CJ asks questions; how Nana answers them - every word they say shows who the characters are.
The inciting incident is the first line of the story; they go on this trip every Sunday after church. There is nothing unusual about the journey except this is the day C.J. becomes aware of it.
Pg 1 Title Page
Pg2 – 3 Acknowledgements
Pg 4 Act 1
CJ pushed through the church doors, skipped down the steps.
Pg 5
The outside air smelled like freedom, but it also smelled like rain, which freckled CJ’s shirt and dripped down his nose. Pt
Pg 6 – pg 7
He ducked under his nana’s umbrella, saying
“How come we gotta wait for the bus in all this wet?”
“Trees get thirsty, too,” his nana told him.
“Don’t you see that big one drinking through a straw?”
CJ looked for a long time but never saw a straw Pt
Pg 8 – pg 9
From the bus stop, he watched water pool on flower petals.
Watched rain patter against the windshield of a nearby car.
His friend Colby climbed in, gave CJ a wave and drove off with his dad.
“Nana, how come we don’t got a car?” Pt
pg 10 – 11
“Boy, what do we need a car for? We got a bus that breathes fire, and old Mr. Dennis, who always has a trick for you.
The bus creaked to a stop in front of them.
It signed and sagged and the doors swung open. Pt
Pg 12
“What’s that I see?” Mr. Dennis asked.
He pulled a coin from behind CJ’s ear,
Placed it in his palm.
Nana laughed her deep laugh and pushed CJ along.
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| Author Matt de la Pena |
They sat right up front.Pg 13
An old woman with curlers had butterflies in a jar.The man across the way was tuning a guitar.
And a “Good afternoon.”Nana gave everyone a great big smile
She made sure CJ did the same. Pt
Pg 14
Lurched forward and stoppedThe bus lurched forward and stopped,
“How come we always gotta go here after church?” CJ said.Nana hummed as she knit
“Miguel and Colby never have to go nowhere.”
Pg 15
“They’ll never get a chance to meet BoBo“I feel sorry for those boys,” she told him.
And I hear Trixie got herself a brand-new hat.”or the Sunglass Man.
He watched cars zip by on either side,CJ stared out the window feeling sorry for himself.
Watched a group of boys hop curbs on bikes. Pt
Pg 16 Act 2
CJ gave up his seat. “How come that man can’t see?”A man climbed aboard with a spotted dog.
“Some people watch the world with their ears.”“Boy, what do you know about seeing?” Nana told him.
Pg 17
“That’s a mighty fine perfume you’re wearing today, ma’am.”That’s a fact. Their noses, too,” the man said, sniffing at the air.
Nana squeezed the man’s hand and laughed her deep laugh. Pt
Pg 18
CJ watched as they moved on by and stood in back.Two older boys got on next
Nana set down her knitting.“Sure wish I had one of those,” he said.
“What for? You got the real live thing sitting across from you. Why don’t you ask the man if he’ll play us a song?”
pg 19
CJ didn’t have to.
The guitar player was already plucking strings
And beginning to sing.
“To feel the magic of music,”
the blind man whispered,
“I like to close my eyes.”
Nana closed hers, too.
So did CJ and the spotted dog. Pt
Pg 20-21
And in the darkness
the rhythm lifted CJ out of the bus,
out of the busy city.
He saw sunset colors swirling over crashing waves.
Saw a family of hawks slicing through the sky.
Saw the old woman’s butterflies
Dancing free in the light of the moon.
CJ’s chest grew full and he was lost in the sound and the sound gave him the feeling of magic. Pt
Pg 22
The song ended and CJ opened his eyes.
Everyone on the bus clapped,
Even the boys in back.
Nana glanced at the coin in CJ’s palm.
CJ dropped it in the man’s hat.
I am personally uncomfortable with deep urban environments. I have lived in Atlanta, Georgia for only five years. I wasn't born and raised in the inner city, but out in the a smaller more rural city down south. So the iron concrete jungle of midtown Atlanta is wall to wall danger to me. I would have been on edge for the entire journey from getting on the bus, to walking down the street, even entering the soup kitchen.
CJ on the other hand is bored with the routine. He is only just now starting to question it. And because he has questions Nana gives him a new way to see it all. Even if they never go to the soup kitchen again C.J. will remember this trip for the rest of his life.
Pg23 Act 3
“Last stop on Market Street,” Mr. Dennis called. Pt
Pg 24
CJ looked around as he stepped off the bus.
Crumbling sidewalks and broken-down doors,
Graffiti-tagged windows and boarded-up stores.
He reached for his Nana’s hand.
“How come it’s always so dirty over here?”
pg 25
She smiled and pointed to the sky.
“Sometimes when you’re surrounded by dirt, CJ,
you’re a better witness for what’ beautiful.” Pt
Pg 26
CJ saw the perfect rainbow arcing over their soup kitchen.
He wondered how his nana always found beautiful
Where he never even thought to look.
Ph 27
He looked all around them again,
At the bus rounding the corner out of sight
And the broken streetlamps still lit up bright
And the stray-cat shadows moving across the wall. Pt
Pg 28
When he spotted their familiar faces in the window, he said
“I’m glad we came.” Pt
Pg 29
He thought his nana might laugh
Her deep laugh, but she didn’t.
She patted him on the head and told him,
“Me too, CJ. Now, come on.”
END
This book is 800 words of prose written like poetry. Every line and sentence is stripped down to it’s bare bones and still tells a complete story. It doesn’t rhyme but it has rhythm.
I think it’s interesting that the story takes place on their way to soup kitchen not at the soup kitchen.
I also think it’s interesting that even though the boy doesn’t want to go he doesn’t openly fuss or fight with Nana. He just asks why they have to. This shows his respect for his Nana; but also Nana's respect for him in how she answers. She doesn't just say: "Because I said so." Or "Because it's the right thing to do." or "Because God..." She seeks to help him understand her motivations and the way she see things and form him his own way of seeing things in a positive way.
Bedtime Breakdown
I didn't expect my daughter to find the story as interesting as she does. She's only two and this book for three year olds and older. Yet it has become one of her favorite books!
While reading it out loud to her some of her favorite words such as rain, butterfly, and rainbow catch her attention.
She of course loves the simple shapes that create the illustrations. She flips through the pages all the time, and selects it at story time. But I was surprised how much of the story she is into. For reasons I can only guess she really enjoys the scene where C.J. and everyone else listens to music.
I know she doesn't understand the deeper meaning behind any of it, and won't for years. But I anticipate this opening up to conversations in the future about where C.J. and Nana are going; why they are going; and why they take the bus.
And again . . . all this in only 800 words for a three year olds . Brava. No wonder they won the Newberry.
Learn more about the writer of this story Matt de La Pena here. If you loved this book as much we do please consider popping by your local library or favorite small book store and picking up a copy. It really is a wonderful read.
If you enjoyed my breakdown please leave a comment below. I welcome feedback. And I'll see you on the next page!