While reading further into “The Soloist” it starts to get more personal with Nathaniel’s life and how he grew up. Growing up Nathaniel didn’t have a father figure to look to for advice. Him and his sisters were going to run away at one point because they didn’t like the way they were living with their mom when they got divorced, but they had no where to go and their mom was going to find out one way or another. So Nathaniel and his sisters just got used to the fact that everything wasn’t always going to go their way.
Nathaniel is getting better at being on his own and standing up for himself I think. He picks up after himself and even others if he doesn’t like the way things look. Lopez got him to get his own apartment so Mr. Snyder can teach him a music lesson. Nathaniel was hesitant at first but now he is starting to make the apartment his own by hanging up posters, putting pictures of his family up, etc. He is learning more and more each day and his progress at getting back to his old normal life if coming back slowly, he has to take it day by day. Lopez is so proud to see this kind of progress in Nathaniel, which he should be it's amazing. I think Nathaniel knows that he is getting better and it feels good to be getting somewhere. More and more great things are soon to come for Nathaniel he will soon be a new person in my eyes.
One reason i think Nathaniel even was diagnosed with Schizophrenia was because of his child hood. I feel like he felt no one was their to pay attention to him and that cut him up deep inside. His mother was there for him in a way, but she was more focused on other aspects of her life, her children weren't her top priority. I can't wait to finish the last few chapters it's getting really interesting i want to find out what ends up happening to Nathaniel. Is he able to keep up the good work and continue on with his progress? and Does he end up having some kind of a carreer in music? I really hope he does that's something he's been dreaming for all his life and it would mean the world to him to be able to do something with his talent. With all the practice he does he deserves it! I also hope he decides to start getting the treatment it takes time for him to make a decision as big as that, but i hope he makes the right one.

While reading chapters 7-12 I felt like Lopez is getting closer and closer with Nathaniel. The doctors that Lopez is getting information from say that if Nathaniel doesn’t start taking medication now he is never going to get better. But he could try and persuade Nathaniel in the most tempting way possible to go get treated and he still would refuse. Lopez’s feelings for Nathaniel are very deep; he is starting to care a lot about him. He doesn’t want anything to happen to him . The area Nathaniel is living around is an extremely bad area. Prostitution, drugs, and murderous situations every night surround him. Lopez decides to spend a night out on the streets with Nathaniel to see how bad his nights really are. You can clearly tell how much Lopez cares for Ayers he is always out looking for him at least once a day, or calling people up to get information on how to help him. He took Nathaniel to a rehearsal at Disney Hall down the road from Skid Row. It was a huge procedure trying to get him to go, but he finally got him to go. Nathaniel didn’t want to leave his Shopping cart full of things at Lamp he describes it as being full of crooks and thieves who would steal anything in site. So Lopez found somewhere else for him to leave it, then he thought he was going to be a no show but he was wrong at the last minute there was Nathaniel. Once they got to the rehearsal he enjoined himself so much. He was surrounded by music everywhere and he loved it. This made Lopez so proud to see Nathaniel like this. The first 12 chapters were great I can’t wait to read on to see what happens next!



Focus points: To make sure my readers understood the story I’m trying to get across

So far chapters 1-6 in the Soloist were pretty good. I feel like Lopez is talking to me! It is definitely easy to understand he tells you the story exactly how it is. What does bother me about it so far is how they use a lot of musical terms, some people probably have no idea what he is talking about when reading it. I understood it, but if I didn’t know it already I would have had no clue what some of the terms meant.

This Soloist is basically about a man named Nathaniel who used to have a good life going for him, he went to Julliard and was planning to have a future in music. He found out he had schizophrenia and his life went down hill from there. Nathaniel became a bum living on the streets, playing his violin with two strings for people. Lopez always was curious about Nathaniel and one day decided to approach him. He wanted to write an article about him he found him to be so interesting. It was true Nathaniel’s life story was quite interesting. The fact that he went to Julliard and is now living on the streets tells you there has to be a good story behind it. Lopez started looking into Nathaniel’s life and the first column he wrote a lot of people decided to donate instruments that Nathaniel can use to not feel so alone. Music meant everything to him. He seemed so appreciative of everything , but was afraid to give in to everything Lopez wanted him to do. Lopez seems like he is just trying to help Nathaniel get his life back on track. Which is a good thing, Nathaniel needs someone to guide him and help him out because the situation he is in right now isn't too good.