Children's book.

It is one of the most gut-wrenching issues of the world today that we have yet to understand. "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime". Homelessness. The problem is not only that a person goes without shelter, warmth, food, and money to supply what one needs: what we take for granted. The problem is, what is our protocol? Do we give the person what they need, or do we teach them how to obtain it themselves? Or do we choose to ignore the problem and carry on with our content and "above all" selves?

Maxwell is just a young boy attending school everyday just as everyone does. He shows no interest or motivation to do anything, to learn anything. He walks around as if he is, indeed, "above all". Maxwell is the main character of this story, and his attitude speaks volumes. His constant mood, never mind his attitude, is ignorance. Every so often, Maxwell visits the local market to pick up a few things. When Max enters and exits the store, there is always a man who is there who is without a home, without a family, without dignity. Max, as expected, pays no attention to the man. One day, the man approaches Max. Still no attention, and the boy carries on with his day. The next time Max makes a visit to the store, the man forces himself to influence this boy, to inspire the boy to learn the lessons of life and beware of the inconsiderate future to come. He wants Max to follow a different path than that of himself and land himself anywhere but a puddle of loneliness outside of a grocery store. The two build a strong relationship, teaching each other something different each day. The boy's ignorance is slowly fading, until the slightest disruption. One day when the boy is making his regular visit to the man, he notices he is not there. The man is not in the bakery across the street where he typically would be for warmth in the winter, he is not in the store, and he is not at the police station.

To develop the boy's perspective and connect with Maxwell as close as possible, I collected pictures of grocery stores from child eye level. I carefully observed the activity of a homeless person and a typical day in that person's shoes. I decided based on what I would do if I were in Max's position. Would I provide the homeless man with the tools to succeed, or would I provide him with food, money, shelter - anything? I re-evaluated my thoughts, and my morals. After doing so, I proceeded to use my research as an aid for my writing, for my dialogue, and for the way I created my characters' attitudes towards not only a specific situation, but every situation. I began to wonder what if I was the homeless man himself. What would you do?