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Trash

Andy Mulligan

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Mar 29, 2016 Toon Houtekamer rated it really liked it

The Book i have read is called ‘Trash’, wroted by Andy Mulligan. He probably named this book after a junkyard called Behala. Junkyards usually contain lot’s of trash…

The story problably takes place in a South American country, where it all starts at the Behala junkyard, located in the slums. The writer doesn’t specifically tell you in what country the junkyard is located, but assuming the work these children do and the whole setting around it, it probably is somewhere in South America. The Behal The Book i have read is called ‘Trash’, wroted by Andy Mulligan. He probably named this book after a junkyard called Behala. Junkyards usually contain lot’s of trash…

The story problably takes place in a South American country, where it all starts at the Behala junkyard, located in the slums. The writer doesn’t specifically tell you in what country the junkyard is located, but assuming the work these children do and the whole setting around it, it probably is somewhere in South America. The Behala junkyard is exactly how you would emagine it. Big piles of trash with lot’s of feces in it, there are no sewers, and lot’s of people trying to find anything usefull there to sell it afterwards.

Thinking about giving this novel a theme isn’t that easy. All the adventures the main characters encounter and situations they land in are working towards one great goal. So i think this story has a moral, which is about perseverance. The main characters worked twenty-four/seven on top of junkpiles to find plastic and other things to keep themselfs and their familly alive. Then they found a chance to give them and their familly everything they ever wanted. But achieving that goal was going to be very hard, but they achieved it! So, the theme of this novel? ‘Never Give Up!’

Going back to the main story, starting with Raphael. He works at the Behala junkyard with his aunt, cousins and his best friend Gardo. Gardo is like a brother he never had to Raphael. Together they stand strong, and they will always protect each other. Together they also sleep, eat and live on the junkyard.. He and his familly try to find plastic and other valuable things to sell, and also trying to avoid getting sick, which is a common thing working at Behala.
One day, when he once again did his daily round on the garbage dump, he found something very interesting. The find was a bag, containing a key, pictures, ID’s and a wallet. According to that ID card, those things belonged to a man called Jose Angelico. He had a daughter to: Pia Dante Angelico. Raphael found out that this key wasn’t that useless, actually, it was extremely wanted, especially by the cops. The story behind their found, mostly the key, is a secret code as well as a corrupt politician.
During their adventure they found a new friend, Rat: Literally named after the conditions he lived in…
Rat, his real name is Jun-Jun, is a very nice and friendly boy with no family. He will help the boys being avoided by the cops. It seems like he has nothing to lose, but Rat does have some spare money!
Rat helps Raphael and Gardo by hiding the bag for the cops. Together with Rat they will continue their journey.
After some research, they found out that the key is used to open a locker, located at a trainstation. That locker leads them to a man with a bible, who can help the boys decipher the code. He dies shortly after their conversation, making the bible end up at a guard. They make an agreement with the guard, so they can get their hands on the bible again. Gardo doesn’t trust the guard, so he prepares himself for the worse. During the exchange something does go wrong, but Gardo outsmarted the police.
After they have deciphered the code, the code leads them to a cemetery.
At the cemetery they find the whole Angelico family, expect Jose. Even his daughter died… But then, they spotted Pia who was sitting on her own grave. But Angelico is dead, killed by the corrupt police forces. In Pia’s grave, they find 6 million dollars. Jose stole all the money from mr. Zapata, a corrupt politican.

The boys splitted the money and went their own way, strawing a huge amount of money over the Behala too.

Reading this story, has been a pleasure to me. I recommend reading this book because it’s such a triller, because you never know what will happen. To whole story just perfectly fits together and everything falls into place. And the corrupt situation in South America is also a very exciting topic to write about.
I can’t come up with a novel that has the same storyline or goal as ‘Trash’. There problably are some books which take place in the same area, country or situation as this novel does, but the storyline is one on its own.
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