The Orange Houses Analysis

It's not just Jay-Z who has an "Empire State of Mind," and for Fatima, New York City is the ultimate ticket to freedom. Why else would she risk going to a city full of immigration police? Most...

We've got ourselves an outside narrator in The Orange Houses, someone who can weave in and out of any character's consciousness at will. Take when we first meet Jimmi, for example: Jim...

It's no coincidence that Fatima, Mik, and Jimmi are all teenagers during our story. Jimmi is the oldest of the bunch at eighteen, but Fatima and Mik are only sixteen and fifteen, respectively....

In case you missed it, there's a hanging at the end of this book, and since we find out about it right away, um, it kind of hangs over the whole story (terrible pun, we know). Right out of the...

It might seem like a contradiction to say someone's style is straightforward and poetic. After all, isn't the whole point of poetry to give an abundance of description and detail? Well, not exa...

The last words of the book are a question. After Jimmi shows up rambling, Mik's mom says: "I better call the ambulance." Mom put the phone to her ear. "How that Jimmi does go on and on.""Yeah,"...

From the get-go, The Orange Houses has us intrigued. After all, we learn there's a hanging at the end of the book—but we have no clue why. It's this non-linear structure that makes The Orange...

Exposition There's a lot of dark stuff going down in the opening pages of this book. Don't believe us? Try this: (1) We know someone gets hanged; (2) we learn about Jimmi's time overseas watch...

Author Paul Griffin works with at-risk, special needs teens in prison. He encourages them to use writing workshops to resolve traumatic events in their pasts. (Source.) The Orange Houses won the AL...

Like any good PG book, there're plenty of references to sex to keep mature audiences giggling without making the innocent blush. Okay, maybe blush a little. There are a couple of kisses and fli...

Juliet from Romeo and Juliet (20.13)Micah from the Bible (27.9)Psalms 104:15-16 from the Bible (27.12)Romeo from Romeo and Juliet (27.35) Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus," poem on th...