The Bean Trees: Brandon Greer: Summarizer/Word Watcher, Entry 2
Taylor gets a job at Burger Derby and leaves Turtle at a free day care. Taylor is then fired several days later. Taylor starts looking for a new job and a new place to live. She eventually meets LouAnn. Taylor moves in with LouAnn. They are both from Kentucky so they understand each other’s culture and dialect. As time goes on, there is evidence that Turtle has been a victim of abuse.
Taylor eventually gets a job at Jesus is Lord Used Tires with Mattie, even though she has a fear of exploding tires. Mattie helps Taylor get over her fear. Taylor later finds out that Jesus is Lord Used Tires is a shelter for many people. Taylor and LouAnn have become a family. Taylor goes to work and LouAnn does things around the house.
Some time passes and Turtle says her first word: “bean”. Taylor calls Turtle the smartest kid in the world. Taylor and LouAnn find out that Turtle’s real name is April. When Taylor takes Turtle to a doctor, she finds out that Turtle is actually 3 years old, not 2, and that Turtle suffered from broken bones. The doctor also says that Turtle is growing physically, but not mentally. Taylor meets Edna and Virgie, 2 older women who babysit for Taylor and LouAnn. Virgie is a mean and predjudiced lady. Edna is kind and caring.
At Mattie’s place, Taylor meets Esperanza and Estevan, who are from Guatemala. There is also a doctor named Terry who comes and treats the people at Mattie’s place, who are fugitives. Taylor, LouAnn, Edna, and Virgie watch Mattie on TV. Mattie talks about human rights. Virgie reveals her predjudice to everyone when she says that foreign people shouldn’t be allowed in the U.S. Esperanza and Estevan are shocked. Taylor finds out her mom is getting married. While Taylor and LouAnn are in the park, Angel, LouAnn’s husband comes and asks for a divorce. The chapter ends with Taylor and LouAnn going home.
I found the following words interesting:
Beach Blanket Bingo: 1965 movie, helps reveal the style of that time period
sarong: long strip of cloth
foisting: forcing someone to do something
discombobble: sad or confused
picayune: not important
Respond and tell me what you think 
Category: Per 3 TBT Sum/WW 3 comments »
February 21st, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Those words are really interesting, although I don’t get what you want us to respond to…
Anyway, the book is taking a huge tide turn; Taylor comes to know a lot about Turtle and is determined to do everything that she can to help Turtle. I feel really bad for Turtle though, I mean she has gone through a lot of tough times. I wonder who did this to her? There is a lot going on in these four chapters. Taylor and LouAnn are facing many hardships, but seeing how they’ve become a family they’re doing their best to help each other. Taylor is finally beginning to become reliant on someone other than herself which is an imporvement because she likes to be independent, but she realizes that trusting LouAnn can’t hurt her in any way.
I’ll do my best to remember the words!
-Kianat Zamir
February 21st, 2009 at 10:07 pm
I agree with Kianat with the fact that I have no idea what you want us to respond to. We need questions!
Anyway, I like your summary, though it was a bit bland. Taylor shows her more prejudice side in the last chapter, when her mother informs her that she is marrying. Also Turtle improved a ton and I am a definite supporter of Taylor’s ways of caring for her. These chapters definitly show a wider spread of different characters, from Angel to Virgie.
I appreciate the word spread. It was informative and interesting! Thanks!
-Jenni Kantor
February 22nd, 2009 at 6:11 pm
hahahaha Brandon…I like the way you summarized this chapter. I’ll be nicer than Jenny and Kianat. But I do agree with them on the fact that there is not that much to respond to. The words you picked were good I thought. They helped understand the meaning of the story better. discombobble- I think that is a funny word. Some interesting and meaningfull parts of the story would be when Angel asks for a divorce. Also, Taylor finds out her mom is getting married. The news about how Taylor is not developing correctly is hard on Taylor, and she refuses to believe it. The two points of view, and characters have overlapped, and we see the connection finally between the two. In the next chapters I expect to see many revelations about Turtle, and maybe who sexually abused her. I think that Taylor will become even more protective of her child. She may even lose custody if they find out she is not the mother. These, of course, are all guesses, and in the next reading section we may find out if they become true.