54 pages • 1 hour read
Jennifer LongoWhat I Carry
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Sociocultural Context: Aging Out of the Foster Care System
As of 2023, more than 391,000 children and youth are in foster care in the United States. In 2021, over 19,000 people aged out, meaning that they left the foster care system “without reuniting with their parents or having another permanent family home” (“Child Welfare and Foster Care Statistics.” Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2023). This number has declined since 2008, when 30,000 youth aged out of the system. Compared to those who have familial support, people who age out are at higher risk for a number of adversities, including “behavioral, mental and physical health issues, housing problems and homelessness, employment and academic difficulties, early parenthood, [and] incarceration” (“Child Welfare and Foster Care Statistics”). Longo’s protagonist and narrator, Muiriel, is keenly aware of the struggles faced by those who age out of the system, and she looks ahead to her 18th birthday with a mixture of determination and fear: “[I]f I am as perfect as I can be, I bet I can stave off the likely possibility of being homeless within a year, or pregnant, or dead. Outcomes for kids who age out with no family are mostly a nightmare” (12). The adverse conditions Muiriel lists disproportionately impact people of color. For example, 29% of youth who age out are unhoused at some point between the ages of 19 and 21, and 43% of Indigenous youth experience homelessness within that age range. Outcomes for youth who age out of the foster care system can be improved through culturally responsive, trauma-informed transition services that address employment, academics, finances, and health.
Historical Context: Manzanar
During World War II, the United States forced thousands of Japanese Americans into concentration camps. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States War Department regarded Japanese Americans as potential “saboteurs or espionage agents, despite a lack of hard evidence to support that view” (“Japanese American Internment.” Encyclopedia Britannica). The War Department established the War Relocation Authority in March 1942. Between 1942 and 1945, approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans were held in 10 concentration camps located in California, Arizona, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and Arkansas. The first of these camps to open was the Manzanar War Relocation Center located near Lone Pine, California. Internees lived in “uninsulated barracks furnished only with cots and coal-burning stoves” and “in an atmosphere of tension, suspicion, and despair” (“Japanese American Internment”). The people living in the camps fostered community and demonstrated resilience by creating their own schools, churches, farms, newspapers, and children’s sports. During its operation from March 1942 to November 1945, about 10,000 people were confined in the camp. The Civil Liberties Act, which was passed by Congress in 1988, granted over 80,000 Japanese Americans $20,000 each as compensation. Congress also issued a formal apology for the government’s policy toward Japanese Americans. Manzanar was named a national historic site in 1992. The National Park Service offers educational tours of the camp, including historic photographs, the site of the Children’s Village, reconstructed barracks, and the remnants of the hospital.
Historical Context: John Muir
John Muir’s wilderness preservation efforts had a significant impact on American history. He was born on April 21, 1838 in Dunbar, Scotland. When he was 11 years old, Muir and his family immigrated to Wisconsin. After nearly losing his eye in a factory accident in 1867, he became passionately devoted to nature. Muir journeyed to the Gulf of Mexico, California, Nevada, Utah, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. In addition, he was a prolific writer and an ardent activist. His work helped to persuade the public as well as the United States government that national forests and parks should be protected. He is sometimes called the father of the national parks because it is largely thanks to his efforts that Sequoia National Park and Yosemite National Park were established in California. His work also influenced the creation of Washington’s Mount Rainier National Park and Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park. He died on December 24, 1914, in Los Angeles, California. The effects of Muir’s efforts to preserve nature can still be seen over a century later:
His conviction that wilderness areas should be federally protected as national parks has given generations of U.S. citizens and tourists an opportunity to appreciate America’s landscapes as they exist in the absence of human industrial influence (“John Muir.” Encyclopedia Britannica).
Despite his many lasting achievements, it is important to acknowledge the harmful aspects of Muir’s legacy. The racist attitudes he perpetuated in his writings left “little room for Indigenous relationships with their ancestral lands or for the participation of other minorities in conservation efforts” (“John Muir”). John Muir remains an influential figure in conservation efforts in the United States and around the world.
