The King of Jam Sandwiches by Eric Walters

On a mission to find her mother, Harmony displays the courage that Robbie so craves, and Harmony’s example kickstarts Robbie’s own quest to seek a better life.īased on Eric Walters’ personal experiences, The King of Jam Sandwiches is a superb middle grade novel that focuses on the effects of poverty and mental illness on children and their families. But despite their differences, Robbie and Harmony have a lot in common, including each having a dysfunctional parent, and once they realize this, they become inseparable.īut then one day, Robbie’s father disappears again, and Harmony’s mother runs away from rehab. Not surprisingly, their first encounter ends horribly, with Robbie getting punched in the face. Harmony is the fast-talking, tough as nails new kid in school, and it’s up to Robbie to show her the ropes. Robbie knows he deserves much better but feels he can’t do anything to change his situation, that is, until he meets Harmony. When his father is not waking him up at all hours of the night or disappearing for days at a time, Robbie spends his time preparing meals, doing laundry and going to school, not to mention his part-time job. With a mentally ill father at home, Robbie knows how to take care of himself. Robbie, 13, is the King of Jam Sandwiches. It makes complete sense,” she said, nodding. And if I do that every day, day after day after day, eventually I might, well, become somebody.” There. I get up thinking that I need to work harder and longer than everybody in the entire world, and if I do that, I can gain just a little. “I get up every morning knowing that I have to work hard.” “Okay, like I said, this is going to sound strange.” I took a deep breath. “If I tell you, you can’t tell anybody,” I finally said. She had blurted out about me and my mother to Mrs.

I had to decide exactly what I was going to tell her or if I should tell her anything.

I took a seat on the steps of a walk leading up to a house.

The King of Jam Sandwiches by Eric Walters