Book Report on Looking For Alaska

Before, Pudge was having the time of his life in his new school with Alaska and the Colonel. After the sudden tragedy Pudge must find clues to understand Alaska. In Looking For Alaska I think that Pudge was irresponsible and let Alaska get in the car which killed her. I also think that he was falling into peer pressure and got drunk with his friends too. I think that Pudge's background affected how he behaved.

When Pudge was in his old school he riding have any friends and when he was having a go- away celebration, nobody came. This affected his behavior in the new school because he didn't know how to act and easily fell into peer pressure. Also, he was new to the school and didn't know anything, or who to hang out with and the Colonel and Alaska guided him. This shows that he had to do what he was told because they were the only help that he got. His backgound wasn't the only factor of why he was irresponsible.

I think that he was insecure, this was also a factor in Alaska's death. The Colonel and Alaska always were partying or pranking and Pudge didn't exactly know how to act around that. If Pudge wasn't so insecure he could have stood up to the Colonel and Alaska and told them to stop when Alaska got into the car drunk. Also, Pudge followed the Colonel and was never the leader. If the Colonel was doing a prank then Pudge was always dragged into it too. When Alaska wanted to go into the car drunk, she needed a distaction/ prank so the Eagle wouldn't stop her. The Colonel said ok so Pudge followed him.

All in all, Pudge's situation at school and before affected a lot of his behavior at school with the Colonel and Alaska. If Pudge had a different background than Alaska might not have been killed because of Pudge's bad judgement and irresponsibility with his friends. Because Pudge was the main character we got to know his background; but the Colonel made bad mistakes too. I wonder what caused him to be so irresponsible.

Book Report on The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian

    For this post I choose to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian. The book is about a Indian boy named Arn (Arnold). Instead of going to normal Indian school in the reservation he decides to go to Reardan, which is 22 miles away so he has a chance of getting out of poverty. After going to Reardan he is treated like a traitor from everyone in the reservation, even his best friend. I think that the friendship of Arn and his best friend Rowdy is more complex than it looks like, and that when they weren't friends they were lost in the world.

    Rowdy is a tough kid and is like a body guard for Arn. In the book Arn said that he was the only one who could make Rowdy laugh. He also said that he was Rowdy's only friend. This shows that while Rowdy protects Arn from getting bullied, Rowdy is happy with Arn. Rowdy is mean to everyone because he is bullied by his drunken parents and he isn't accepted by many because he is a bully. Rowdy likes being powerful but also wants someone who will accept him and be his friend. Arn lets him guard him but is also his friend which is why they are both really good friends.

    Arn is weak and is an easy target for bullying. He is very smart and has a lot of potential in academics. Rowdy is there for him and will help make sure others won't hurt him. Arn also lets Rowdy feel strong and powerful because he isn't getting bully like at home, he stops the bullies. While Rowdy is the big and strong kid in the relationship Arn also gives Rowdy friend and if he didn't then Rowdy would be using his strength for the wrong causes because he would be very lonely. Arn helps Rowdy in the friendship as much as Rowdy helps Arn but Arn helps Rowdy in a mental way instead of physical.

    When Arn went to Reardan Rowdy felt betrayed and left Arn, he thought that this would only hurt Arn but it also hurt himself. I think this because he now had nobody to protect and now used his strength to hurt Arn. Arn on the other hand didnt need anyone to protect him in his new school. This means that when Rowdy left he hurt himself more than Arn without realizing it. Arn was harassed even more at his home because he was still a traitor to them. Arn now had to defend for himself instead of Rowdy doing it for him and Rowdy had to control himself without Arn.

    In a way there seperation helped them but they still need each other for guides in life. I think in the short flashback of Rowdy and Arn climbing the biggest tree, it showed that they both helped each other the equal amount and helped each other get to the very top. When I first thought about their friendship I thought that Rowdy did most of the helping in the friendship but when I looked more closely I realized how strong of a character Arn was too. When I was younger I was really shy and if someone was saying mean stuff to me I would do anything or say anything because I was insecure. There was a boy named Sam Craig and he stood up for me and was my Rowdy. He was very hyper all the time and kids stayed away because he was weird. I was always his friend because he stood up for me. Until after anylizing this book I realized that I was like Arn and I was his only friend at the time. If you think about your old friendships you can realize that you could have helped with a mentally or physical way!

The Fox

      The picture book " The Fox" is about Magpie the bird lossing her ability to fly and Dog who lost sight in one eye. They learn to help each other and work together to deal with their disabilities. The fox comes and is jealous about their friendship and seperates them. I think that the Dog lost sight in one eye physically and metaphorically and Magpie lost flight in physical and metaphorically too.

      Dog lost his ability to see in one metaphorically because he was unable to see the fox's true intentions or his anger of dog and magpie's relation ship. Magpie said that she would be dog's missing eye and he would be her wings. She tried to warn him about the fox, and was his missing eye. He did not know the fox's intentions because of his missing eye.

      Magpie lost her wing which could also mean her pride or back- up. When the fox was telling her to take a ride on him and not Dog she had no back- up to make her feel safe. She was pressured to ride fox and not Dog. I feel like the Dog didn't do his job because he was supposed to be her missing wing and protect her but he didn't and she is gone. This is why I think her lost wing is metaphorical and physical.

       The line "you will be my missing wings and I will be your missing eye" shows how both Magpie and Dog are physically disabled and metaphorically. Both need each others help but Dog didn't backup Magpie which she needed. Magpie also warned Dog about the fox but he didn't listen which caused her to be taken. I think that this is important to see in the book because it shows problems of characters in two ways. 

Best books I have read in 2013

       This year I have begun to read young adult books that can be intense. But I have read these intense books and have found a great story and meaning to these books. My favorite books of the year are The Maze Runner, Never Fall Down, and Leverage. These books really spoke to me and they were very interesting. I hope you will take my recommendation and read these books.

       In the book Never Fall Down, the protagonist is a boy Arn who lives in Cambodia. One day his whole village is forced to walk to rice fields where they will have to face starvation and overwork. Arn learns to help others instead of himself so later they could help him. This book shows that in a tough situation you need help from others to overcome a great obstacle. It also showed me that motivation helps people overcome or finish tasks.

       In the book The Maze Runner, Thomas, the protagonist is put in the glade without a memory and has to fight mutant animals. He has to think with others before time runs out and has to make decisions for the greater good. This book also shows how you need others to overcome something big. It also showed that you have to make choices that will help the majority so there will be more survivors.

       Finally, the book Leverage was about a small gymnast and a big tough football player in high school. While there is a prank war happening between the two sport teams Danny (gymnast) and Kurt (football player) become good friends and learn to fight off the bullies in high school together. This book shows how you shouldn't fall into peer pressure and you should tell others about bullies. This also shows me how friends can help you overcome someone/ something big or stronger than you. 

       After reviewing all of these books I realized that one of the theme's is using friends to help overcome difficulties or great challenges. This could be a pattern in young adult books, I wonder what other ways books can show how using friends help you overcome challenges.

Social InJustice

  Every week when I walk by Garfield and 7th avenue I see the same homeless guy begging for money, I hear no money in his bucket and I wonder, why is he on the street?  For the last few days I've have been looking around and saw how homeless people who beg have practically no chance of getting a home. This is called social injustice, when I see this I know that they are trying their hardest to get money for food but I know that it will almost be impossible for them to be in the middle class.
    In life some people are lucky and others are not, some are rich from heritage and others might grow up in a trailer park. One of the stupidest remarks someone said that the poor do not work hard. Every day I see the same people begging and doing whatever they can to get money for food they sleep on hard ground and go all over the city to get change. The rich either get money from heritage or had the money to pay for a good school so they can learn and get good paying jobs.
    On the other hand, homeless people may have made mistakes in their life that got them on the streets, the rich may have gotten good at one thing and perfected it and got them famous. Some people are born in ghettos but had a gift, others might not have which made sure they would stay where they were. this is also true but for most people on the streets it is a fantasy.
    The homeless have to face all of the odds to become normal, the rich have a helping hand that guides them. I think this is a major injustice in the world because there is the super rich and the super poor the way our world the war is going the poor just get poorer. Some of the rich are really smart or really good at something, if the poor are great at something it is hard for them to get noticed. Do you agree? If the look around you will see.

Book Report on Leverage

    Have you ever felt like you were too small to help, or that no one cares? I thought this in elementary school but thought it stopped there, Leverage by Joshua C. Cohen proved me wrong and took it to the next level. Kurt and Danny the main characters thought that they were to small to help that cost them a friends life. They learned from there mistakes though and try to make things right.
 The book is about a small gymnast and a huge orphan who is the new star of the Oregrove high school football team. The captains of the football team take steroids and beat up everyone who are smaller then them. Kurt the football player and Danny the gymnast are sick of them and when a kid commits suicide because of them they work together to make sure the captains get what they deserve.

    Lamar was Kurt's best friend in the orphanage. He was raped there by an older kid who eventually murdered him. In high school when Ronnie is being raped he tries his best to stop it because he doesn't want anyone to feel Lamar's pain. Kurt thinks that its his fault that Lamar died but now he isn't afraid to stand up for what's right.
Danny was in the same closet as the kid who was getting raped. He didn't try and stop it because he was afraid he was too small and that he would get raped too. When Kurt came to stop it Danny learn that you should always stand up for what's right. Later Ronnie (the boy) killed himself. This made Danny feel even worse and learns that any one can make a difference. Later in the book Kurt and Danny collect enough evidence to prove that the captain's raped Ronnie and they should be punished. This is how Danny learned from his mistake.

   Sometimes it takes a small incident when you were a baby, or you learned it from your favorite teacher. In this case though the high school boys learned it after death of friends. Still the lesson is the same even though this is much worse than when you were a kid. It's that you learn from your mistakes. When I was in elementary school I was a peer mediator. I was in fourth grade and was fine mediating the fourth grade and down, fifth grade was the only grade I was afraid of because they were bigger. One day there was a fight and I was supposed to help but I was too afraid and I just watched. After the fight a fifth grader screamed at me for not helping. I felt really bad for not helping and decided to help in all fights. This is how I learned from my mistake. Everyone once learned from their mistakes, what's yours?