BLOG REFLECTIONS

       This year in ELA, we used a blog to keep track of all our reading, and we did one per week. As I did the blog posts, I have learned as a reader, that its better to keep track of your reading because then you can explain your thoughts on paper (or on a blog). It helps you feel what you read teaches you what you can do to an idea. But blogging can be hard to keep up. Like you can forget about it easily. Some ways I benefited was how it got me more into the books i read. Like when I thought more, then I actually got into some of the good books. Writing is different online because then you try to impress the reader that might go on your blog all the time. Also when we write on notebooks, we might get too lazy to look up better words for cleshay words such as "good" or "bad". While blogging, we have the whole internet on other tabs. Looking for better vocabulary and others. I also feel like people work harder online rather than in the notebook. Blogging doesn't necessary limit you but can be hard to keep up. Like you have 10 different tabs and one of them is blogging and you might forget. I think being online, we create more personalities and try to create online identities  Maybe we might not be proud of who you are and try to change that online. Or creating online identities. Some may keep online identities real, while keeping the offline ones unreal, to fit in or something like that.
       People may create online identities and do things on sites like Facebook. Some may truly abuse the power that is given over certain sights. Like they may feel like they are totally free on the sites and do things they wouldn't do in real life. But you aren't really free anywhere, because they are doing it to someone. Also we may try to improve ourselves on sites like that. I think it could be a good or bad things depending on what the teenage does. Like for example, it can abuse someone with words and that could turn out bad. However, when spreading the word for a good cause, that is a good way to use the power.
     I can totally find myself creating a blog and keeping about reading, or maybe even continuing my blog and making it better. Because I feel like I engage in my reading more, when I keep my blog. Overall, blogging is very helpful but the fact that its on the internet can get distracting and stuff. Like you can have so many diffident tabs and things like that.

Beautiful by Amy Reed

I am currently reading beautiful by Amy reed. This book is about a girl named Cassie who moves into a new town knowing anyone.  Before she moved in she was a perfect girl who had perfect grades and did things that would benefit her and cause good. However, when moving into town, she didn't take any cautions. 

In the second day of school she met Alex. She is the kid that gets into trouble all the time and out of school she does things to hurt her body and does drugs. She made Cassie into something else. She influenced Cassie into something bad.  Maybe it's the fact that humans are followers and not leaders, Alex got her influence from other people as well. Therefore it is a long chain of things. Humans don't just learn by themselves, they learn from someone or thing else, or else the human race would be very different. We have so much to learn and think we have all the time, but really the time span is really little. We may think we know so  much but the learning doesn't stop. Cassie thought that she knew a lot and did the things she did and followed Alex into the things that she did. It may have started out as a normal friend, but it really wasn't a friend it was more of a partner and they used each other for loneliness. I don't why the human race needs a friend, but it isn't right because a friend isn't someone who would want to hurt you, because this isn't a friend. 

Overall, I thought this book taught me about what a good friend shouldn't be. Other than that, I hated the book. It had barely had a plot and meaning. The book would have been better if there was a plot. It was building up to something and then then there was no climax. The book also seemed very unreal. I mean its the second day she moved into a town and stayed ou

SPOILER ALERT Book 1, Series of Unfortunate Events

        I am currently reading book 1, series of unfortunate events by Lemony Snicket. This book is about 3 kids, Klaus, Violet, and Sunny with a foster parents because their parents had died. They go through some really hard times together. In the end, Count Olaf ( their foster parent) wants the money and nothing else. Count Olaf tries to get the money my marring Violet in play pretending like its a play but really, the papers are actually marriage papers.
      Count Olaf may have his sneaky tricks by trying to get the money. At first he tries his bad treatments, but then when the kids complain, he tries to act better. while the kids may have not know him for such a longtime, they now him long to understand what Olaf's next move is. The kids are very smart. They use every resource around them to get to the truth. Like his neighbor, Justice Strauss. She is a judge, and has a wide variety of books, especially law books. Therefore, the kids could look at how Olaf would get money from the kids. Klaus used his skills to outsmart count Olaf by following his ever move.  He never gave up on Olaf. Because his guts told him that Olaf was evil and was only up to the money.  Violet at points didn't really know who to trust.  Because Olaf didn't try to do evil to them, but just showed that he tried.  Sunny is little and didn't really know what's going on, but she could feel that things were getting bad. Olaf doesn't try to stop even if the kids are behind his back, he just continues to get the money. But it isn't really worth it, because he just ends up failing. Instead he looses more than gaining it. The kids can only trust themselves  because they can only tell each other anything and not be afraid to talk. Like even justice Strauss thought that Olaf was all good, even when the  kids confronted her.  Overall, family is the only people you can trust when times become hard because everyone in family has a connection within.

As Klaus would think he would think that once our guts say something, we should stay with our guts unless proven or given some evidence. You can't fully prove something. It's all the way you want it too be. Like you can't prove that Olaf is evil, evil is different to everyone. 

KISSED BY AN ANGEL SPOLIER ALTERT

I am currently reading Kissed by an Angel by Mary Claire Helldorfer . It is about a girl whose fallen deeply in love. However her love dies in a tragic car crash . She's done trying to move on when her boyfriend becomes a fallen angel. She can't quite feel him, but still sense him.  This can  really builds into a complicated live story or just a person trying 

to play around with the dead. 

It seems like Ivy is in love. She use to be afraid of water and Tristan helped her overcome her fear of water.  That was the beginning proof of her falling for Tristan. They fell in love after that.  It was sort if like love at first sight. However I don't think love at first sight could be considered love at  all. I mean love could mean so many different things. The person you may love could be your life partner. How do you really fall in love after one moment of someone?However, he did come back as a fallen angel, so perhaps there is some unfinished business left for him to complete. But how could he really complete when Ivy is becomeing closer to another guy. It seems like she may soon build a relationship with him. But she doesn't want to let go of Tristan. Basically she doesn't know who to choose. She should definitely let go of her dead boyfriend and move on, but shouldn't look back twice. She wants to move on, but is imprinted by her boyfriends moments  . She can't live like this forever. She has to realise that.  I think Tristan could get hurt and Ivy would be hurt with a scar that will make her remember Tristan forever. It would be like Tristan wouldn't get hurt if she forgot about him. Death can be hard to overcome, but in this situation you can overcome it just by forgetting or moving on. 

One thing that I have learned from this book so far is that you have to let go of things. Because things won't always be there for you. You have to depend on yourself, not someone else. Because its your life and you control it. Every choice that you make has a big outcome. You shouldn't play with your life. Even letting go can be the harest thing ever. 

Tested Love (Romeo and Juliet by William Shakesphere)

        A tale of star-crossed lovers is told in Romeo and Juliet by William Shakesphere. Love is tested in this story over a rivalry. Two families, the montage and Capulet are at a tug of war forever. Romeo and Juliet's love is so strong that they die for each other. They knew that they were opposites, and still loved each other. It was like love conquered the rivalry. Because of the rivalry, certain people make decisions that impact Romeo and Juliet in a big way including Romeo and Juliet.

        In Romeo and Juliet, love takes over the feuding families. Their love is really strong. Their love is rock solid and proven by the deaths. Knowing about the feuding families, they still fell for each other; because, nothing mattered more to them rather than the love. Before she met Romeo, she said how she would marry Paris knowing the full details about him. She didn't praise Paris by his money, she responds with “I’ll look to like, if looking liking move” 1.3.97 she doesn't look at someone by their looks, but by who they are. Romeo and Juliet couldn't keep away from each other. They did anything for each other. Juliet understood Romeo in a way that he had his own language. I mean when Romeo killed Tybalt, she was upset, but not as much because Tybalt would have killed Romeo anyways. Decisions like these impacted their death. It was like one event was piled up for their deaths. Her love for Romeo is stronger than her love for Romeo.  When Tybalt died, Romeo got banished; and if it wasn't for the message to spread through quicker, Romeo would realize that that Juliet was really alive.  I mean they overcame so many obstacles in order to see each other. Like Juliet sent the Nurse to fetch Romeo in order to announce to get married. She trusted the nurse, which could have easily bailed her out instead looked forward to Juliet’s happiness. Romeo made his love for Juliet true by telling his friends and cousin. Both took a big chance in falling for the opposite.  In the end, they are at peace dying together in the tomb.

         Both Romeo and Juliet have some rebellious spirit in their blood. The both rebelled against each other's parents. They did it without taking any cautions. Who knew there would be so many deaths in a tale of simple lovers? And there was one death after another leading to the lover’s deaths. There was a chain where one thing hurt another and leaving one depressed. For example, when Mercutio died, Romeo was hurt and killed Tybalt. That resulted in Romeo getting banished. This then resulted in the whole concept of time; and resulted in Romeo and Juliet's deaths. The Capulets and Montagues then get depressed and Lady Montague killed herself. Juliet maybe rebelled because she is getting a arranged marriage, she would be marrying Paris, which she only have heard of. She heard of how great and rich he is, but she didn't fall in love with him. She fell in love with Romeo. When her mom mentions Paris, she says how his riches don't matter, but the love does. Romeo, she says whom she actually can be happy with. She was trying to say that the personality matters the most, rather than what they are on the outside. Because who knows, Paris could be a horrible person. She doesn’t know Paris as well as Romeo. I can see why she rebelled against her family; because, she had her life partner picked out by her parents, not her. It should be her that picks out her ideal husband, since she will spend her whole life with him. "Go, get out of here. I’m not going anywhere." 5.3.172 She says to Friar Lawrence when he says to leave the tomb. However, she doesn't leave. She could have left then and still saved herself. However, she didn't she wouldn't leave without Romeo. With their rebellious spirits, Mercutio as well as Tybalt was killed. Juliet showed to her father that she didn't want to get married to Paris. A final sign of rebellion was when Romeo and Juliet were totally informed that their families had a big rivalry. However, did not care about it.

         Faith, time played a big role as well as the trust for each other. I mean it was the Capulet’s and Rosaline that brought them together, even if Rosaline was his first love, Juliet was his true love. They trusted each other even if their families are opposites. They won’t let anything bring them apart. Like when Romeo killed Paris. They both push their parents away. When Juliet fakes her death, it shows that she was loyal to her parents. When Tybalt killed Mercuito, Romeo killed Tybalt, it would usually result to death for Romeo, but instead he got banished because Mercuito was related to the prince. If Romeo hasn't been banished, he would have been notified faster about Juliet's “fake death". The whole battle was to fight their love between the rivalries, “The fearful passage of their death-mark'd love,” prolougue.9. The fearful passage is the hate within each. Basically, faith brought them together, and trusted each other. However, time got in the way of so many things. At least Romeo didn’t get killed for killing Tybalt. He died in peace with Juliet. Even if they both died, they didn’t lose each other. Instead they found another way to be together, even if it isn’t the right way. Juliet trusts Friar of taking in the potion. What if the potion was actual poison? Friar could have also told on them. But all just looked for the happiness of them both. Maybe their parents would have also looked for the good side. “The time and my intents are savage-wild, more fierce and more inexorable far” 5.3. 37-40 He says this when he finds out that Juliet is “dead”. All he wants to do now is die. However, he tells, Balthasar to step out of the tomb. He does everything to be with Juliet, even his own life. Which shows a great deal of trust.

   

         Small decisions that everyone makes affects Romeo and Juliet in a big way. They could have handled the situation much better. I mean they could have been open about the marriage, which would have been bad; but not as bad as taking their own lives and dragging others along with them, such as Mercutio, Lady Montague, Paris, it was faith that brought them together and rivalry that brought them apart. No one won tug of war since both sides feel apart. The rope broke apart.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathan Safran Foer

         In the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Johnathan Safran Foer. It is about a boy whose dad died during the 9/11 attacks in the world trade center. Oskar, whose dad died finds himself in a state of mind, where he sees the the world in a very diffident way. He finds messages throughout his dad's things. His dad originally ticked him into thinking there was a 6th borough. Before his dad's death, his dad was a jeweler   and was there with Oskar every time he found a clue, Oskar would be rewarded with another one. But now, since his death, he was left with no answer nor a goodbye from his father; until a year had passed.
         After the year, he is a bit over his dad's dead and decides to go through is stuff and finds a key. His dad makes 2 calls before he dies, and it had a 8 minute gap in between. I think Oskar wanted to stretch those eight minutes to find out possibly something about the 6th borough or maybe his dad. In the book, he carries somethings throughout the journey. One thing he carries is the tambourine. I mean It's used to calm him down. Every time he hears the tambourine, he's more calm and feels like he can do anything. Maybe its like a way of getting to his. Feelings like his dad is there, with hi, making him feel more calm and the small urge to go anything. He also meets the renter of his grandmother, which he also reminds Oskar of his Dad. I mean he told everything to that guy. The renter, which then he finds out is his grandfather actually. He told his whole journey and even had a oxymoron battle with him, just like he use to with his dad. I think he trusted the guy because he saw a part of his dad in him and knew that part of his dad was still there and it will always be with him.
        All and all, I'm halfway through the book and it has made me realize that family is very important. You can tell when family is near. Oskar kept all things about his dad warped inside into a book. It almost never came out. He finds trust to a complete stranger before he knew it was family. Maybe it's because he trusted a stranger rather than his mom or his grandmother. Because they might not understand his pain as a stranger would. Because a stranger wouldn't know you, and would have to start fresh on knowing you.

PROM BY LARUIE HALSE ANDERSON

           I am currently reading the book, Prom by Laruie Halse Anderson. The book is about a girl named Ashley that is dating a high school drop out. She makes really interesting decisions about her life and possibly her future. However, never liked the thought of a prom. Her friend Natalia is a big fan of them. She is even part of the prom committee. 

          But everything starts being a disaster. One of the teachers gets arrested for stealing the prom money and Natalia doesn't know how to put a prom together. So now Ashley has to decide between Natalia and the high school drop out that she is dating. Everyone said that Ashley should dump TJ, the dropout because he only uses her for money. But,she doesn't believe that. Natalia wants to still plan the prom, but since no one is by her side, what is she going to do? Is Ashley going to be there, or is she going to run off with TJ? One thing that is very important in the book is making the right choices. For example, in the end, she notices everything. At first she had a plan that she would move in with TJ , never go to collage, and never see her parents again. But TJ really didn't want her, he wanted her money. One day she realizes that she didn't want to turn out like her mother that left her parents and that moved in with a boy at a young age. She wanted to be Better. She wanted to be beside her friend, Natalia, even if its something simple like prom. Then suddenly TJ is mysteriously going places and no one knows where. No one is by Ashley's side, since she was with TJ. Then, suddenly Adrian comes along. Adrian is a normal person just like Ashley. Adrian always helps her and is always there for her no matter what. TJ tries to get back with Ashley, but she makes the right choice not to. In the end, she ends up helping Natalia with the prom, going to it, and marrying Adrian. 

        This book as taught me that one decision can change your whole life. It has taught me to never go in the wrong direction and try to live the good life, with everyone being there with you. Try not to get into a place, where anyone will try to hate or hurt you. Because peace is the actual beauty

Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

           Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen takes place in 19th century England. The book plays around with class and a love story with a odd start. It all starts out when Charles Bingley who invites the 5 unmarried Bennet sisters for marriage along with others to a ball. Charles Bingley is a wealthy man whose in need of a spouse. However, when one of the sisters, Elizabeth asks Darcy, who is Charles friend to dance. Charlies denies her since she isn't as wealthy as her.
 
         In this book, Darcy and Elizabeth and falls in love with each other. However Elizabeth is compelled not to fall in love since he refused to dance with her because of her economic status. But her economic status isn't the only thing that people notice. In the 19th century society in England, a woman must be on her best behavior everywhere. When a woman doesn't act " normal " as the book so says it, her reputation is at risk. Not to mention, certain privileges are taken away. Just like Mrs. Bennet, who is very foolish. Out of the whole book, she is my favorite character since she acts nor as a normal person during that time, but she does express her characteristics. However, she wants her children to get married really quickly. Mrs. Bennet plays a really big role, since she wants to get her daughters married, but her always reputation ruins it in the end, she doesn't have that normal social status in the 19th century. In this time period, people normally didn't marry each other for love, ladies didn't have much of a choice. They married mostly based on social status, looks, family history, economic history.

         So far, this book has taught me a lot of history of how life was long ago. Not to mention how society made woman their prime suspect. Woman couldn't express like themselves today. They had to hide their identity.

The Catcher In The Rye

         I am currently reading  The Catcher In The Rye by J.D. Salinger. Holden Caulfield, who sees the world in a different view. A more of a hateful teenage way. He has a different filter in his eyes. He sees a lot of the word in a evil, improper, and false way. He looks at it very harshly. 
        Holden makes things feel more fake. More unreal. Like happiness isn't real. He doesn't even try to be happy. I mean he's failing school and wont do anything about it. He doesn't care if he's failing. "I'm the one that's flunking out of the Goddamn place". He just knows it. It seems like he depends everything on faith. I wish I could yell at him saying how he shouldn't and how he should take some action with him trying. He doesn't really like many people. There is always something wrong about every person. Its like hes trying to find out something wrong about someone, but everyone isn't perfect. He also thinks of a lot of people as pathetic. This phrase that he is going through is like the change from teenage to adult. As he takes the view of one person, he doesn't take a second look. Could it be that is trying to protect himself? I mean he blurted to Mr. Spencer that he feels trapped in this world. Like there is no freedom. He also started to wear a red hunting hat. Which represents how creative and original Holden is. It's like his secret place where he travels when he has no one. It's like a comfort for him, even if its a hat. I noticed that he doesn't really wear it around his friends. It could be more than a friend. 
       Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book. However, it did remind me of Perks of being a Wallflower. I couldn't stop thinking about how similar the two books were. I mean Charlie and Holden were so much alike. They have the same feelings about life.  Like sometimes there is no one you can go but yourself. You have to comfort yourselves and realize that one thing can't get in your way forever. You have to let things come and go

Blog Review on Carolyna Corey's blogpost

Carolyna's blogpost
I have just read Carolyna's blogpost on the book "Am I blue". I really enjoyed reading her blogspot. She gave lots of examples and connected the book to the real world.

I haven't read the book yet; but I do want to read it.  I agree with her on how bullying is horrible. None is perfect and should never make fun of anyone for any reason. Her post made me want to read the book because it tells you why someone might bully others. Which bring you one step close to stop this crime, we can all make bullying stop, one kid at a time. Her post made me think about how we can stop it. How some people might bully just because of their own problems, it builds on their anger. 

While reading her post, I wondered what she felt while reading the book, was she mad at the characters? How did the characters change their emotions? Her example of Vincent getting bullied went great with her post. Because She got her point of the post, that bulling is horrible and it should be stopped, however, one way that people spread it is with their own problems. They take it on on other people and others take it on others. The chain can be stopped if one person stops it.

Her blogpost was organized in paragraphs and one idea per paragraph, it wasn't messy or jumbled up into one paragraph. Her writing was neat and clear on what she was saying. 

Beat the Band by Don Calame

       Beat the Band by Don Calame is the sequel to Swim the Fly, which is about 3 boys that want to see a real live naked girl as their summer goal; Matt, Coop and Sean. The book is in the point of view of Matt, whose real intention is to impress a girl, Kelly but falls for her best friend, Valerie. However, they soon learn that that shouldn't be their only goal and actually learn more about their personalities. Not to mention, they go though some really intense times together. This sequel takes it's own twist, with the POV being Coop's.

       Coop may have seemed like the funny guy in the group, but he's not. When he finds out that he is partners with "Hotdog" Helen all year in health class, he makes it best aim to avoid her. In this school year, he learns about how much friendship is. He gets dared into a contest which implies the three of them to be in a band and win the beat the Battle of Band. They are nor in a band or how to play any instruments. But Coop's health partner; Helen has an amazing voice and really needs her. Consecutively, that will result in big points for the "popular seats". It was like a few weeks ago, he only cared about a popularity seat and the "hot" girls in his class. But now, the "band" has brought them together and closer than ever. Not to mention bonding with Helen. Her story began not with something she did, but a false accusation. A rumor that was never true. Coop changes a lot thought the series. From a guy that enjoyed naked girls to an emotional person. He tries to get rid of Helen, but he can't since shes needed in the band. He to try to fart next to Helen to make her go away but now he stopped. He became very emotional, not to mention mature.

          This book had taught me how some people grow and mature over time and how rumors aren't necessarily true or important. Coop went from an non matured teen to a matured teen, he has grown out of his spot.

The Virgin Suicides By Jeffrey Eugenides

I am currently reading the book The Virgin Suicides By Jeffrey Eugenides. So far it has been a heart touching story with many imperfections and heartbreaking tales. The tale starts with 4/5 Lisbon girls committing suicide one year after the next, year after year. 

The book has been taken place in the 1970's and suicide rates were very much lower than the ones today and it was thing that was very newly exposed.Out of all people, the neighborhood boys have figured out what is going to happen to the only Lisbon girl that remained. She would join her sisters but it was too late. In one of the sister's first suicide attempt; Cecelia's, whose tried to cut herself in the bathroom  and almost cutting her hand off, she was holding a picture of Virgin Mary. Who in the catholic religion was given a baby by god's will. I think the picture she was holding represented  how somethings are meant to happen to her even if they didn't have a reasoning. Not to mention, the fences that the Lisbon family owned had a certain amount of protection to it. I mean after the deaths it was like Mr. and Mrs. presented to be happy. They put up Christmas lights around the house. But why put up Christmas lights when your child just committed suicide. Not to mention trying to forgot things and making things up. It was like secrets kept the family apart. It seemed like the sisters kept many things to themselves. It was like the suicides were planned and made to happen.

No one in the world should commit suicide. Every 40 seconds someone in the world commits suicide. There are other ways that problems could be solved it isn't just ending your lives, end your problems first. 

BE MORE CHILL BY NED VIZZINI

          I have just finished reading  Be More Chill By Ned Vizzini. Which is an adventurous book that has to do with teenage years of Jeremy; who deals with many issues with being accepted around the society and his peers. 

        Jeremy is not popular, but all he wishes to be popular and none more. His best friend, Michel tells him that it’s not worth it and their friendship is the only thing that matters. However, when he learns that a pill, a small pill that you take and it will give you anything you desire. The “Squip”; as the pill is named, has risen up cash value in its time as it got popular. But how could two people want one thing at the same time? Things get out of control with this pill. He does get some attention from some popular kids at school, but other than that, the squip totally messes up everyone’s lives that take it. People die in fires, makes them loose their great friends, and do things they would never intend on doing.  Society has totally influenced some people. Some so bad that they must change their friends and their personally to “fit in”. Society creates stereo-types that people then later decide to make society segregated into these “stereo-types”. Jeremy soon realizes that a thing like popularity doesn’t matter anymore. Because where can it actually lead you? You don’t go to school for popularity, you go to learn. Jeremy thinks that being popular is really important, but it’s really not. What is popularity? Society should never influence anything. I mean they shouldn’t be segregated into those stereo-types.  

         Be More Chill has helped me realize how dumb the idea of popularity is. I mean it really won’t get you anywhere. Not to mention, how much society affects a lot of things. It made people think in a very bad way and is broken into many stereotypes. Overall, I highly recommend this book it teaches you a valuable lesson on how society and how popularity is really stupid. 

Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer

        I am currently reading the book Rules of the Road by Joan Bauer. It is about Jenna, who changes from a complex teenager to a loyal woman. She goes through a time in her life where she finds her own way of things. But her drastic  change happened very slowly learning from her parents and exploring her childhood. 

        Jenna's whole life changes. She goes from an unsure teenager to a strong woman. Her alcoholic father has left her mom and younger sister. She learns from what not to do from that. In the beginning of the book, Jenna runs into him unexpectedly, as he was drunk. But then she becomes very caring towards her father. Jenna is always concerned about her father’s actions. Many people might think this is a horrible decision considering the fact that he has left his family and he is a alcoholic. Not to mention, owes a lot of money to people and whenever they called, he made Jenna pick up and tell them loads of lies. However, Jenna tried hard to look past all of this. She tried to look at how he had great business skills. Jenna wanted to love him because he was still her father. There is even a time when Jenna isn’t home and her dad keeps calling her mom and sister late at night while he is drunk; Jenna’s mom changes their phone number. Jenna tries to argue and says he doesn’t mean the things he does. I think there is a secret part of Jenna's heart where she stores her father's memories. However, Jenna at the end of the book, makes a very indifferent choice. She found her father driving, without knowing that he was drunk. Then, when she gets in the car, she finds out that he was drunk. He drives without caution, and then she takes the handle and stops the car. However, a cop was near the incident. When the cop finds out what happen, they take matters into their own hands and takes her father away. She ends up dashing home to take a shower. She tried so hard to accept her dad, but when things got out of hand, she realized that it all needed to be washed away.  The whole incident with her dad was the turing point where she grows into a loyal woman.

        This really shows the bright side of all her struggles. Jenna went through so much and that was what made her who she was. It could have been that part of her that made her father hold her back, but eventfully, she got over it. 

Swim The Fly by Don Calame

I am currently reading the book Swim The Fly by Don Calame. It is a about 3 boys; Matt, Coop and Sean
that wants to see a real live naked girl. Not some pictures, but a real live one. That was their one time summer goal that must be completed, like the ones in the previous years. However, Matt tries to break the tradition and  ends up with a girlfriend. Soon, the plan doesn't seem to right to him. 

One characteristic about Matt that really sticks out to me is the fact that he wants to do whats right. He tries to take life as a serious way. He always tries to do what's best. I mean his friends wanted to forge the big swim-off that he had, but instead, he went through it. He has a very honest and well-rounded personality. He doesn't try to take the easy or cheating way. Another time, when he destroyed his brothers room, he told the truth, instead of completely lying. Not to mention, He told the direct truth to mom, when she found out that her super protein bars are missing. Unlike his friends, he is a bit more mature. Then, his friends didn't want to compete in the school swim off, but he really did. At first, he started to do it for a girl, but in the end, he did it for himself. Not to mention, he sort of gave up on the fact of seeing a naked girl. Instead, he took his dignity and saved it from getting exposed. Even, if none would know, he did it.

This book had a very big plot twist, considering that the trio had been friends for so long. They are still friends, but their relationship isn't based on one person, it's based on all of them. They use to always rely on Coop, but now it includes Matt and Sean into their friendship. The plot twist helped them in their friendship. 

Tangled-Carolyn Mackler

       This book is about how the lives of 4 people change from ok to worse after. Jena, and Skyle are 2 girls on the trip together. They hate each other, why? well Jena thinks that Skyle is show off because she's a model and Skyle thinks that Jena is loser because she has no boyfriend. Then there's Dakota and Owen, their're brothers. They live in different places since there parents are separated Dakota thinks that being cool and getting drunk is everything and Owen is the nerdy brother that speaks poetry. This book contains many plot twists along with things that should have never happened. Four people, four stories told in four months of tragic and twists.

       One thought that left me while reading the book was why did Owen commit suicide? He had no reasons but Dakota had a lot? I mean he was having a good life. Like, he was doing so good in school. Also, his mom always cared about him and never expected more than him and his mom always encouraged him. Not to mention, he had friends. Suicide is a very harsh things to the victim's family and friends and they know it will hurt them, but why does it happen? If there is no motive, then why does it happen? Another thought that the book left me was that why is Jena so interested for a boyfriend. I mean the book taught me that love isn't everything in the world. Like, when Jena finally had boyfriend ( Dakota, I can't believe she dated that jerk!) and when bad things were starting, she should have just dumped him. Instead she just ignored everything. Like the time when he was saying how her outfits are bad or when she suspected that he was cheating on her, she should have said something. Not to mention, Dakota later on develops feeling for Skyle while dating Jena. Not to mention, he barely cared about his brother's suicide. But later on, everything combines and Dakota ends ends up going to a lot of trouble.

       One thing I noticed about Dakota is that he is very awful. He was dating 3 girls at once, which later on broke 3 people's hearts at the same time. Also, since his dad was a sheriff  he took big advance of that. He thought that he wouldn't get in trouble no matter what bad things he did. But later on, his dad arrested him even if its his own son. One thing this book taught me was that you shouldn't take advantage of the things around you. Because it will fire-back to you badly.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

       I am currently reading the book The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. This book is a biography on Jeannette Walls and her crazy childhood life. Her family is always on the run, something about them that isn't said is bad. I mean the FBI is after them and Walls and her siblings doesn't have the average kid like anymore. 

      In the beginning, Jeannette doesn't understand what's really happening. Like, every time they run away from the FBI, she thinks it's adventure. "I told Lori how lucky we were to be sleeping out under the sky like indians." Another Inference I could make is that her childhood is getting taken away from her. I mean the only toy she had was a Tinkerbell doll. And that doll had a smudged up face because it melted. She misplaced it and forgot it the last place they "lived." When I heard that she left her doll in the last place, I felt like that was a very important moment of her life. It was kinda like the moment where she leaves her childhood behind. That doll represented the heart of her childhood. But when she left Tinkerbell, she still has her cat Quixote. When Quixote made weird noises and started scraping things her dad threw Quixote though the window. While her heart was taken out, she still tried to enjoy her life. I mean many kids would dream to have lives like this. Later on in the chapter, she says that "After a while, I forgot about Quixote and Tinkerbell and the friends I left in the Trailer Park." This shows that she grew up. She is really grown-up. I mean she once cooked hot dogs and got burned. She was hospitalized. After she is taken from the hospital, she then cooks hot dogs again. How does her gut tell her to that? I mean why touch something that hurt you? Is it to live?

        After reading 1/5 of the book I can infer that Jeannette is enjoying her life but she will have to encounter somethings that will trigger her memory forever. For example, I think she will notice that her mother is not always going to be there. Since she's pregnant with two kids, her mother doesn't really want to live this life anymore. I think there will some problems with her dad going on. She is also being departed from the story a lot. It's like a character that doesn't really matter. But a mom is a lot things. It could become really hard with a temper-dad and a life like this. I wonder how her life is going to become clear again. I wonder how it will all add up and if the FBI ever caught them. 

The Extraordinary Sercets of April, May and June by Robin Benaway

      I am currently reading the book The Extraordinary Sercets of April, May and June by Robin Benaway. Basically, this book consists of 3 sisters named April, May, and June. After a car accident, they received super powers. April got the power of seeing into the future, May got the power of disappearing, and June got the power of reading brains. However, they don't actually use their powers.

     Although, it doesn't seem like they use their powers properly. They read brains, disappear in the middle of nowhere and predict the future, but they don't use the information they have. Instead, they use it for useless stuff. For example, June--the youngest one, reads brains, but only to find out if people like her outfit. Also, when May disappears, she only uses it for getting away from things. Consequently, they use their powers for unnecessary ideas. But when April looked into the future and found out that there was going to be an earthquake, she should have said something. That would have prevented a calamity and a heap of damage.

     On the other hand, even if they aren't that responsible, these powers have made them bond closer. Before they had "super powers", they barely talked. However, now they share everything, and is always there for each other. For example, when April had a vision, she told her sisters. She saw that she would be in a relationship with a boy that she slightly hated, and she told her sisters about that. She barely had a relationship with her sisters ever since the move. Though, when she had her powers, she got closer with her sisters. Furthermore, all 3 of them noticed that when they moved because of their parent's divorce, they had no friends, expect for themselves. Of course, if they did have new friends, there would be a chance that their sisterhood would be ruined, and their bond would decline.

Swim the Fly by Don Calame * Spoiler Alert *

        I am currently reading Swim The Fly by Don Calame. This book is about 3 boys Matt, Coop and Sean that wants to see a naked girl this summer. They have a goal every summer, and have succeed every summer of completing that goal. However, Matt faces other troubles while having a crush on Kelly West and ruins every plan that Matt And Coop creates of seeing a naked girl by thinking of Kelly.

        Their first attempt to see a naked girl was to dress up as girls and hide in the locker room after their swim practice. However, just before that Matt had a milkshake to get his immune system running. Not to mention they were going to wear Sean's sisters clothes and in return they must get a picture of Mandy Reagan naked. However, when Sean's system reacts at the moment when they are in the locker room, the bathroom gets clogged and suddenly couldn't get it. But it gets worse when Matt see's Kelly in the locker room and they both made eye contact   When Sean's sister finds this out, she t threatens trio that if they don't get the picture, she would post the picture of them dressed as girls all over the school blog. Suddenly, Sean and Coop really tries hard in order to see a nude girl. Whereas Matt has no intention whatsoever and wants to gain the guts to ask Kelly out.

       Matt faces problems with gaining access to Kelly. His older brother gives him advice in order to do something big, so Kelly notices. Matt then chooses to the hardest swim to do, the Butterfly Stroke. Which eventfully, gets Kelly to notice. Kelly's perspective is missing. I mean we have the perspective of a guy, so why not a girl? Kelly would be prefect, because that would tell us on how she thinks about Matt. Also how her life is. It would be insightful comparing the ideas and life's of both genders. Sometimes I even wondered if Kelly had a crush on Matt. She would fill in the hole.

        Even if the main goal of the trio was to see a naked girl, the idea is disintegrating. The book is more focusing on Matt. Matt has no interest of a nude girl anymore. Maybe the goal that they have every summer is no one. The goal has been twisted. I predict in the next chapter, Matt will try to impress Kelly, while convincing his friends that a summertime goal isn't worth it.