TOW #8: Street Kid by Judy Westwater

Judy Westwater’s Street Kid is a story about a little girl who grew up with an abusive father, his cruel girlfriend, and a mother who did not want her. She had to learn to grow on her own and learn things for herself. By the age of 8, Judy Westwater got abandoned by her mother, almost died from her father’s girlfriend’s abuse, and almost escaped from home multiple times. Even at a young age, she learned to have the will to survive even though bad days. She was able to find strength as a child that most adults don’t have on their own. Through her story, Westwater shows us that even though there are obstacles there are also ways to move past them.

Through her narrative, she switches tone to exaggerate her purpose. She makes her audience feel badly for her as she gets beaten and scolded at then switches to an inspirational tone and says, “You can beat the outside of me all you like but you’re not going to get the inside of me. You’re not going to see me cry” (84). Her inspirational tone enables herself to appeal to the audience’s emotions by making them feel sympathy for the author and/or relate to her situation.

She wrote this book not only as a means to inspire people but to remind people that the world isn’t perfect. People blind themselves with rainbow glasses making the world seem better than it is because they don’t to admit it to themselves that the world is not as good as we make it seem 24/7. We are human. Judy Westwater was just trying to tell the audience that it’s okay you just have to pull through the hard times and motivate yourself to move forward in life.