ホームレス中学生 田村裕

Hiroshi was only 13 years old when he returned home from school to find his house had been repossessed. He waited outside the barricades with his sister and brother for his father to come home. However their father just told them to go their separate ways and left. Not wanting to be a burden to his brother and sister, Hiroshi set out to fend for himself. He set up home at a nearby park. Everything was fine for the first day. Then hunger kicked in.

Hiroshi considered suicide. If dying meant he could be with his mother again and escape from this feeling of constant hunger, then he wanted to die. He missed his mum. He wanted to be hugged and comforted by his mum. Dying would help his brother and sister too, whom he recently became reunited with. Dying would mean one less mouth for them to feed. 15 years of living was enough. He had experienced enough pain. But was dying what his mother would have wanted for his life? What good could he ever give to others? What could he do to make his mum in heaven proud of him?

A story of a homeless and very poor adolescent boy living in Osaka. Apparently it's 'based' on the life of famous Yoshimoto comedian Hiroshi Tamura. It's a simple book with simple language that is easy to read for the language learner. It also has lots of good vocabulary in it that isn't too formal/written language.

「いつか、僕を見て周りの人が、僕でなく、お母さんのことを褒めてくれるような立派な人間を目指して。」

JLPT N3-2