Point of View

Jazmin's Notebook is told in the first-person narrative by Jazmin. The reader is privy to the original poems that are written by the fourteen-year-old and her private thoughts about her wishes, hopes and dreams—and on the darker side, her anguish over her mother's condition and her pain from being abandoned by her parents. Writing the book from the protagonist's point of view is an effective way of illustrating the internal struggles of a young girl who experiences adult-size problems and the growth and character development that can be gained despite the abuse and neglect she endures.

Although in reality, Jazmin and CeCe are abandoned by both parents, the author places the major blame for their tragic childhood on their mother. There seems to be a slight bias against the mother figure because when a child winds up in foster care, both parents must take...