The books, Cricket in Times Square and Because of Winn Dixie, written by George Selden and Kate Dicamillo, talks about Chester Cricket’s first time in Times Square and Opal with her dad, the preacher’s first time in Florida. They are both books that have won the Newbery Medal, it is a literary award given by the Association for Library Service to Children. They are given to the author of "the most distinguished contributions to American literature for children. In The Cricket in Times Square, Chester travels far from his little countryside home in Connecticut to New York City Subway Station, where he meets new friends, Tucker and Harry. Because of Winn-Dixie talks about Opal moving into Florida, from her latest home where she had just fitted in. Both books tell us things about friendship and homesickness, but they also have differences like the time, place, or ending.
The main characters in both stories are lonely, moving from a place where they had been for a long long time, to someplace new, without friends. They both feel as if they weren’t supposed to fit in, and people can differ in different places. In the stories, Chester moved from where he had lived all his life, Connecticut, and Opal moved to Florida, where she has no friends and no mother. They are both homesick, and feeling lonely, with no friends from their hometown. Chester just wants to be back home with his usual surroundings, and Opal just wants to have friends and stop immigrating very often. Homesickness and loneliness usually happens when people move far from their homes, nothing is there from their hometown to comfort them.
Both stories have similarities, but they also differ in their genres, characters, places, and ending. In genre, one story is realistic fiction and the other is pure fantasy. For characters, Opal Buloni is the main character for Because of Winn Dixie, and Chester Cricket is the main character for The Cricket in Times Square. Because of Winn Dixie happens in Miami, and the other one happens in NYC. As for the ending, one is a sad one which could also continue, and the other one has resolved the problem and is a happy ending. The two stories can be compared together, but the differences are clear and should be highlighted too. Some differences can help us understand the story more, and know what is different between the two. Genres, characters, places and ending and contrasted between the two stories.
Loneliness and friendship are opposites, but we can turn loneliness into friendship. Without friendship, there is loneliness and loneliness is usually caused by no friendship. In the stories, Opal was lonely as she had no friends in her new town, and Chester is lonely as he is homesick, without his usual surroundings and friends. In Because of Winn Dixie, Opal moves from where she has friends, to where she had none in Florida. In The Cricket in Times Square, Chester moves (accidentally) from his beloved hometown, Connecticut to NYC, in the busy city where it is the exact opposite of the quiet countryside, with no friends also. They both feel very homesick and want to be where they have friends or usual surroundings. When we think back about themes, we sometimes find that some are similar with themes in other stories.
In conclusion, The Cricket in Times Square and Because of Winn Dixie has similarities and differences. Both main characters of the stories, Opal and Chester, had both engaged with leaving their former homes and where they had many friends who helped, supported and cared for them while they were sad or lonely to an entirely new place which they had no friends in. There are also differences such as in genre, characters, place and ending. Both stories also include some themes that are the same. I really recommend reading both Because of Winn Dixie and Cricket in Times Square as it helps us learn themes and also how to compare and contrast different stories.
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