They Cage the Animals at Night

In high school, one of my English teacher's gave an assignment to read a true story of any genre and to give an oral book report. She had a supply of books in her room we could choose from or you could go to the library. I came across one (different cover art) with a young, red-headed boy on the cover who had a similar look of a childhood friend. Over the course of a weekend, I "followed" Jenning Michael Birch to the many orphanages and foster homes he was sent to. I panicked with him when his stuffed confidant Doggie went missing. I cried when he was punished for his childhood mistakes. When I finally delivered that report, I had a hard time stopping as I wanted everyone to read that book and love/hate it as much as I did. My teacher ended up gifting that book to me at the end of the year.

They Cage the Animals at Night is a terrific and emotional story about Jennings Michael Burch, a young boy who learned to survive in a cold, frightening world. His mother was too sick to care for him and left him in a series of orphanages and institutions. Life in the orphanages was brutal, punishments were cruel, rules were strict, and Jennings was unable to do anything about it. Through all this time, Jennings was taught not to become close to people, because the ones you love, always leave you. At these times in the book I wanted to jump in, lead Jennings on the right track, and tell him what he believed was wrong. He bounced from home, to orphanages, to abusive foster homes, to good foster homes, to living at the zoo and rummaging through the trash for food. He could not rely on family and friends because they all abandoned him in times when he really needed them. Four of his five other brothers were going through similar times so they had no way to help Jennings. A tattered stuffed dog named Doggie, which Jennings stole from his first foster home, was the only friend that stayed with him through the harsh times. He was the only friend he could count on through his lost and broken childhood. The story was based on sadness, love, survival, family, and friends that left me with a new look on a life I could not even imagine existed.

I finished this book at one sitting because I could not put it down. It was one of the most touching stories I ever read. It tells the story of a little boy named Jennings. His mother has health problems, so he and his brothers spend much of their young lives in orphanages and foster homes. Jennings is seperated from his mom and his brothers, and sent to cold institutions that are often run by unfeeling administrators who dole out painful and humiliating punishments for small, insignificant offenses such as wetting the bed. He is lent out to foster homes where he is ignored, beaten, and otherwise mistreated. All this moving around causes him to fall behind in his schooling. Because of this, his fellow students and even his teachers mock and deride him, telling him he is stupid. What little time he does spend at home is disrupted by quarreling older brothers, a sick mother, a permanently hospitalized brother, a couple of drunken brothers, and a constant lack of money. And even with all he went through, he didn't give up. The book is very well written, and will touch the heart of anyone who loves children. I think that everone should read this inspiring true story.

They Cage the Animals at Night is a terrific and emotionalstory about Jennings Michael Burch, a young boy who learned to survivein a cold, frightening world. His mother was too sick to care for him and left him in a series of orphanages and institutions. Life in these orphanages was brutal, punishments were cruel, rules were strict, and Jennings was unable to do anything about it. He couldn't rely on family and friends because they all abandoned him in times that he really needed them. A tattered stuffed dog was the only friend that stayed with him through it all and the only thing he could count on in his lost childhood. This is the best book I have ever read. I couldn't put it down. When it was time to go to sleep, I would get a flashlight and sit in the dark for hours and read this book. I have never read a sadder story. The fact that this all happened to the author makes me realize just how lucky I actually am to have family, friends, home, and money. I really felt sorry for Jennings. He was a boy about my age who doesn't have all that I have. The story was based on sadness, love, survival, family, and friends. I would recommend this to anyone of any age who likes a powerful, sad story or who wants to be moved and touched. My entire family has either read it or wants to read it. Everyone I know that read it has felt the same way that I do about it.